Before you marry, you should take your time to reflect on these five points:
Before you marry, are you ready?
You need to ask yourself if you are really ready for the highs and lows that come with being married. Are you emotionally ready? Are you ready career-wise? What about your God-given purpose? Have you pursued it far enough to need a help-meet? How far have you gone with your personal life goals? Can you take on the challenges that come with marriage alongside the goals you have for the nearest future? You need to be sincere with yourself, by evaluating where you are in your life and reflecting on whether or not marriage will be of benefit to you at this time.
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Before you marry, are you compatible?
Are you compatible?: This individual you are considering marriage with, do your values align? Do you share the same faith and belief? Do you share similar communication styles? Are your long-term goals too far apart? Do you complement each other in any area? How fast and how effectively do you resolve conflicts? Are you both able to have open and honest communications with each other without resulting in verbal abuse? You need to find sincere answers to these questions and more. You need to explore with your partner your religious belief system, your thoughts about family, your financial orientation as well as your personal ethics. There are some areas that must be aligned to foster a strong foundation for a blissful future together.
Are you both teachable?
Marriage is basically an institution of learning. Both of you have a lot to learn before and even in the marriage, so it is important that both of you are teachable. Marriage requires commitment and effort from both partners. Are you willing and ready to not just learn but to put to use good knowledge on the subject of Marriage? You need to reflect on your commitment to nurturing and growing the relationship, as well as your partner’s willingness to do the same. Take time apart to discuss your expectations for the level of dedication and investment you both are willing to make to make the relationship work.
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Before you marry, Have you gone through pre-marital counseling?
Pre-marital Counseling: No matter how learned you think you are, do not joke with pre-marital counseling. You may consider the marital counseling team of your local church too ‘old school’ but God can use them to point to you a major issue that could steal the joy of your marriage. You can in addition, submit to counseling under spiritual couples. You can also trust God to lead you to Christian pre-marital education programs.
How much knowledge do you have in your knowledge bank in preparation for marriage?
Search the scriptures for ancient principles for marriage. Read Marriage books by scriptural and spiritual authors. Listen to Scriptural Marriage sermons. The Holy Spirit through these resources can provide valuable guidance for you on the marriage journey and equip you with skills and tools to build a strong foundation for your marriage.
Don’t forget that the decision to marry is a significant one, and you don’t just want to marry, you want to have a blissful home. Therefore, do not be in a rush, take your time to prepare to have the best marriage.
May the Lord prepare you Himself in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Written by: Esther John
(c) Fruitful Touching Lives (2023)
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