Women Preparing for Marriage, Part II Eph. 6:1-3 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
Women preparing for marriage must be more concerned with preparing themselves than they are with finding the right husband or planning the best wedding. This lesson today is the second of a two part series in which we discuss the most important aspects of women preparing for marriage. You are not ready for marriage just because you are old enough to marry and you have a man that says he wants to marry you. It takes years of work preparing for marriage for you to become a suitable bride. Just as it takes men preparing for marriage years to become suitable husbands. Many of us made our wives endure a few years of struggle and heartache as we developed into what we should have been by the time we married. By the same token we want to be what you ought to be before you marry. When preparing for marriage, you should:
Honor your parents – Eph 6:1-3 – in marriage, you must obey and reverence your husband. If you don’t obey and honor your parents, you won’t obey and reverence your husband. Home is a good place and honoring your parents is a good way to learn submission. And in marriage you are to be submissive to your husband [Eph 5:22-23]. Of course, he is to love you as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it [Eph 5:25]. When he loves you that much, it is certainly easier to be in subjection to him.
Learn from Older Women – Titus 2:4-5 – older women who have been married for years have already seen what you are going to see when you get married. They have much more experience than you do. They will teach you to be sober, to love your husband, to love your children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, and obedient to your husband. In this way the word of God is not blasphemed.
Learn the good qualities of good men – Acts 6:3 – you want to make sure when you marry that you marry a godly man. It is not too much to ask the Lord to give you a man who is deacon material or someone like Timothy [1 Tim 4:12]. Before a young lady is a teenager she should write down the characteristics of the man she wants to marry. Don’t settle for less.
Learn to care for children – Titus 2:4 – you need to learn to love and care for children. Babysitting, caring for your younger siblings, working the nursery at church, and so forth are all good ways to learn to care for children.
Learn to care for your home – Prov 31:10-29 – know as much as you can about keeping your home. Learn how to cook, clean house, shop, and maintain your home. A wise woman buildeth her house.
Adorn yourself modestly – 1 Pet 3:3; 1 Tim 2:9-10 – don’t dress to attract the attention of the opposite sex. Rather dress to please God. You cannot keep up with the current trends and styles and fashions and dress modestly. Much of what is designed for young women today is designed to show off the flesh.
Abstain from fornication – 1 Thes 4:3-5 – wait till you are married. Heb 13:4 says that the marriage bed is undefiled. From 1 Cor 6:19-20 you learn that your body is a member of Christ and it is the temple of the Holy Ghost. Therefore, abstain from fornication.
Conclusion: if you will follow these simple principles in preparing for marriage, you will be amazed at how much happier you will be than a peer in the world who is not properly prepared for marriage. God will bless your preparations and you and your husband will find greater delight in each other as a result.