How to Get Ready for Marriage in Christian Singleness (6 Tips)

hey everybody this is mark from apply God’s Word calm and in today’s episode we’re gonna talk about six sacrifices you can make in singleness that will really pay off one day in marriage so throughout the Bible we are warned that we always reap what we sow the choices we made in the past are affecting us right now and the choices we are making right now will affect us one day in the future the same is true when it comes to the choices we make in singleness most Christians will be married one day and the choices we make in our singleness will positively or negatively affect that season of life another biblical principle is that short-term sacrifices usually lead to long-term rewards while quick pleasures usually lead to long-term problems so here are six sacrifices you can make in your season of Christian singleness that will help you reap blessings in your future Christian marriage number one consistent devotional time every Christian knows they should read the Bible daily pray daily and go to church weekly most Christians also know how to do these things the problem is not in our ability or our knowledge the real problem usually lies with our commitment quite frankly it’s much easier to not read the Bible to not pray and to not go to church doing these things consistently are not easy it takes real discipline and work once you do them it is usually very enjoyable but just starting can be a challenge and I think every honest Christian knows that this is a real struggle while it’s easy to imagine that married life will be quieter and less busy and thus easier to personally see God the truth however is that in most cases it doesn’t get any easier it actually gets much harder if you cannot find time to have a daily devotional time when you are living alone it’s very unlikely that you will find the time when you are living with your spouse marriage should help your wife with God and not hurt it but if we do not learn to seek God in our singleness we will most likely seek God even less in our marriage if you learn to be disciplined and devoted to seeking God through Bible study prayer and going to church in your singleness you will be blessed by these healthy habits in your marriage number two being financially wise and self controlled whenever a marriage poll is taken money is consistently ranked as one of the top stressors to a marriage when you are single there’s no one there to disagree with your financial decisions however when you’re married your bank account becomes one as well debt is never good if you live outside of your means and misuse credit to yours in your singleness the temptation to do so will be even greater in marriage if you learn in your singleness however on how to budget live within your means and tithe and enjoy what you have rather than being discontent with what you don’t have you will be very happy you did learn these lessons once you get married and as a side note your spouse will be very happy you are financially wise to number 3 resisting sexual temptation and sanctifying your sexuality one of the biggest areas we hurt ourselves in during our season of singleness is in the area of sexuality within the Bible there are only two options for sexual activity if you are single complete abstinence if you are married sexual activity only with your spouse if you want to blessed sexual relationship with your spouse in marriage you should seek to have a biblical sexual lifestyle in your singleness you will be the same you in marriage if you are living in sexual sin and singleness you will find ways to live in sexual sin and marriage it’s really an odd trend but here’s what the flesh the world and the devil try to accomplish in our lives they want you to have as much sex as possible in your singleness and as little as sex as possible in your marriage many men and women live sexually busy lifestyles and singleness and dating but then when they get married the sex often stops after some years why is that because the root issue is about obeying or disobeying God if you are living in sin and following the flesh rather than the spirit you will do the opposite of what God wants so in singleness that means you will be sexually active in marriage that means you will be sexually inactive God wants the opposite he wants sexual inactivity in singleness and lots of healthy sexual activity in marriage so if you want what God wants for you in marriage in regards to sex then you must want what God wants for you in your singleness in regards to sex don’t think you can have it your way in singleness and God’s Way in marriage if you want a blessed sexual union in marriage seek a blessed sexual lifestyle in singleness so God can redeem our past sins if you’ve sinned in this area in your singleness don’t feel like you’ve already blown it completely because God’s grace is always enough but your present choices always impact your future self regardless of your past mistakes start obeying God right now and your singleness so he can bless your future marriage number 4 taking care of your body and making healthy choices often times Christians have a tendency to under emphasize the importance of the body because we feel we are supposed to be heavenly minded well I believe we should continue to grow spiritually this does not mean we have to pay less attention to our bodies our bodies are directly tied to our identity and God wants us to serve Him with our bodies the Bible says if we neglect our bodies and do not train them there are spiritual consequences to pay for example in 1st Corinthians 6:19 through 20 it says or do you not know that the body is a temple of the holy spirit within you whom you have from God you are not your own for you or bought with a price so glorify God and your body so why am I talking about this in regards to sewing and single so you can reap in marriage it is very unlikely that you will be more in shape when you get married it is statistically more likely to gain weight rather than lose weight when you are married and especially when you have kids if you don’t find the time and energy in singleness to work out and to eat healthy and to sleep the proper amount it’s not going to get better later in life so hat so set healthy habits now that will be there to fall back on later in life when things get even more hectic number five working on conflict resolution if you don’t learn how to deal with conflict and your singleness you’ll be farther back than you need to be in marriage conflict in marriage is unavoidable everyone has some form of conflict in marriage the area where marriages are separated into healthy and unhealthy camps is not in does conflict happen but rather in how is the conflict handled in singleness you have you will have conflict at work with your family members with friends and in dating relationships and in all kinds of other areas if you run from conflict in your singleness you are training yourself to run from conflict in your marriage counselor conflict resolution is a skill just like any other skill and it takes time and practice to develop well this sometimes easier just a letter friendship fade or end a dating relationship badly the biblical approach is to be as respectful and peaceful as possible at all times even if you’re going to break up with somebody you will benefit your own heart and theirs if you try to end the relationship in the most respectful way you can if you seek to mature and handle conflict well in singleness you will be way ahead of the game once you get married and finally number six serving those in need there are so many more sacrifices we could talk about that you can make in singleness to benefit yourself and your spouse one day a marriage but one of the most important is developing your service skills serving does not come naturally to us it always sounds like a magical idea in our heads that we would love to do but the reality of serving those in need is always much harder and much messier than we thought one of the biblical benefits of singleness is that you have a greater opportunity to focus directly on ministry while singles do not have a greater obligation to remember the poor and needy like all people all Christians have that responsibility just as equally as Christian singles however in 1st Corinthians 7 verse 32 through 35 the Bible does indicate that singles are often in a better position to meet the needs of others if there always seems to be a reason not to serve the poor and needy in your singleness those roadblocks will only increase later in life not only that but perhaps the best marriage training is serving others when you increase your ability to sacrifice for others while not expecting anything in return you are developing the exact ingredients needed to have a healthy marriage if you enjoyed this video don’t forget to give it a thumbs up and if you want more detailed information about Christian singleness you may enjoy my free ebook called the ultimate guide to Christian singleness I sell this book for $12.99 in paperback on Amazon but I give away a free digital version of this book on my website so check out the links in the description below if you want a free copy well I’m mark from apply God’s Word com really hope you enjoyed this video thanks for watching and until next time god bless