5 Tips for a Young Christian Marriage
Whether you are single and planning for the future, in a long term relationship, engaged or have been married for a couple of years, these tips are guaranteed to be applicable.
1. Have Royal Ambitions. "Seek First Gods Kingdom and His Righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." Matthew 6:33 Your foundations matter. Being "equally yoked" is an old fashioned phrase which is similar to the social media concept of being tagged or pinned. How can you follow or be in agreement with someone who has a different philosophy on life? If you don't have the same values on faith and life, don't allow yourself to be attached emotionally in the first place. That isn't Gods plan for His children.
God says we are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people chosen by Him. God should be at the throne of our hearts and we should present all our needs to the King who wants all His people to live well.
2. Chatter don't matter. Only Prayer does. Talk to God about what is on your heart. His is the ear that matters most. If we complain more than we pray or reflect on Gods Word, we are very wrong. Pray about everything, God has heard it all over the duration of humanity anyway. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7
3. Real Housewives of the Bible. LOL. Study as much as you can about women of the Bible. Gods Word is universal so it applies to all of us anyway. However, there are sections where it specifies "women" or "wives" e.g. Titus 2:3-5 [teach] "the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things— that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed."
It is also useful to study wives in the Bible. Ruth teaches us to love our mother-in-law, to worship the true God no matter how we were raised, to trust God for our provisions. Esther is a reminder to look great for your husband, to pray even before we see or speak to said husband and that God does intervene for His children. There are many other examples.
4. Knowledge isn't understanding. Get Godly Advice. We all know that we are in the age of information. Information is everywhere. Whether we want it or not. The quality of the advice we actually implement in our lives should always be measured against Gods stellar standards. What does God think about my decision to not tell my husband ____ (fill in the blank). How about this movie? Is it watering down my worldview as a Christian?
Psalms 1:1-2 "Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night."
5. There is no substitute for Quality Time together. Quality over quantity. This means the content of your time together should be bring you closer to each other physically, spiritually, intellectually and emotionally. All of these should be areas of growth together for a well rounded marriage.
People who have been married for decades will tell you things like study one another, pray together, talk to each other. These seem generic right? But understanding each other and communicating never can be outgrown. We never can graduate from the need to be together. It's an investment that pays off great dividends and of course; God is the most important person in your marriage.