Preparing for Marriage
1 Peter 4:8: Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.
Marriage is an extremely intense, powerful, and impactful change in our lives. When we enter into marriage with another person, our whole way of life is turned on its head. Now, it’s a good and beautiful thing meant to enrich our lives in every way, as designed by God. But it’s still something that we must ensure we are prepared for. Going into marriage unprepared is a recipe for disaster!
How do we prepare for marriage? By making sure our hearts, minds, souls, and bodies are in the proper posture before God and before our future spouse. Entering into marriage is a promise to give your best in every way to your spouse. You are making that promise before God, your spouse, your family, and your friends at your wedding. That’s why it’s crucial that you show up as your best self that day!
Self-care is so important. If you don’t practice it now, you won’t be able to practice it when you’re married either! The best thing we can do to prepare spiritually, mentally, and emotionally for marriage is to devote ourselves to Bible reading and prayer. Learn everything you can from God’s Word about His design for marriage. As you do, make your reflective time a conversation with Him through prayer, bringing Him your thoughts, questions, and any other feelings you are having about marriage.
During this time, ask God to help you form a healthy understanding of what a godly marriage is all about. Ask Him to partner with you to bring out your full potential in every way so you can be your best self for your spouse. Be open and vulnerable to what He is teaching you, and bewilling to make necessary changes in your life so you can faithfully become one with your spouse.
This means casting all selfishness aside and being willing to accept a new, fuller identity as one with your spouse. This is a lifelong commitment that will change who you are. That’s why, in Mark 10:9, Jesus says, “Let no one split apart what God has joined together.” God is very serious about marriage! In light of this, it’s essential we take it seriously and prepare for it in every way so we can have a lasting, thriving marriage in the Lord.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
1. Why is it crucial that we prepare for marriage instead of diving in headfirst without
giving it the proper thought and planning?
2. How does our preparation set us up to have a successful marriage?
3. What role does spiritual formation play in preparing for marriage?
4. How is it loving to our spouse to present only our best selves to them as we join with them in marriage? How do we ensure that we accomplish this?
PRAYER
Lord, thank You for giving us all the tools we need to be able to prepare ourselves for marriage. Through the spiritual disciplines, we can build a firm foundation of faith in our lives that will carry us into a godly marriage. We know that marriage is a gift from you and we want to honor that gift by living it out according to your design. Amen.