Exposition:

With singleness, one is responsible to him/herself only but marriage comes along with responsibilities to your partner as well. For a person to be able to shoulder these responsibilities, it calls for spiritual preparation. Psalms 37:4-5 clearly states that “delight yourself in the Lord and He would give you the desires of your heart”. So if we want to get the desires of our heart – good wife or husband, then it is necessary that we delight in Him by seeking His face in prayer. It is only when we seek the face of God that the Holy Spirit would direct us to that godly partner. It is important that as we pray, we ask God to help us to become the husband/wife we are called to be.

An aspect of spiritual preparation before marriage is to do an introspection about our lives. Are there some characters we would need to work on before marriage? Like anger, pride, unforgiveness, selfishness and etc. When we are able to work on our traits by seeking God’s grace to exhibit self-control and godly lifestyle, it can help in the success of the marriage because there are natural tensions and challenges that would come in the marriage and only individuals who had prepared spiritually before the marriage can stand.

As we also prepare spiritually, let us know the plans of God for our lives and invest prayer that the spouse the Lord brings would fit perfectly into that plan (Jeremiah 29:11). Also, as the Bible is the Christian’s manual and contains all that would lead to the success of a marriage, it is prudent that we equip ourselves with the word of God. It is important that as we prepare spiritually, we are anchored in the word (Psalm 119:105).

Lastly, to be able to practice purity before marriage, one needs to be spiritually strong. Apostle Paul admonishes us in 1Cor 6:15 that “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute?” Therefore, as we prepare to marry, prayer for the Holy Spirit’s enablement to stand in this perverse generation where immorality is on the ascendancy is key.