Finding a Wife…For Life

As regular readers and friends will realize, much of the content of this blog, although meant to be thought-provoking and instructional, is based off of what God is currently teaching and convicting me of. To write any other way would probably lead to unwise, questionable posts. This post is not exactly like my others, in that this is something that I do not fully know, but desire to. With that in mind, please consider the following.

“He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD.” – Proverbs 18:22 (ESV)

In this passage, we are told in the simplest way that a wife is a good thing. God favors those who find a wife because He pleasures to see man not be alone (Gen. 2:18). God created man and woman so that they complement each other; in personality and in body. He could have not created woman, and simply provided that help and companionship that man need through Himself. He didn’t, though, in His good pleasure, and we must understand that before we search for a wife.

So, now we know that a wife is a good thing; and God is pleased when a man finds a wife. Next, we must understand, at least in a basic sense, what marriage is. Marriage, as many would define it, is simply a relationship between a man and a woman (though even that is called into question in our day and age) that has social and legal ramifications. That definition is too basic. Marriage is a covenantal relationship between a man and a woman that God ordained from Creation for our benefit and His glory. Let’s pick that apart:

Covenantal relationship: More than just social and legal, or even emotional and physical, marriage brings two people together in a special way that unites their beings. Marriage is not between JUST a man and a woman, but is a covenant with God. Understanding this is essential to a healthy and Godly marriage.

God ordained: Marriage is NOT a social construct that man came up with; it is God’s way of providing man with what he needs (woman) and a woman with she needs (man). He ordained it (see Genesis 2:24) and therefore we must accept His definition and idea of marriage, not ours.

We benefit: Scripture paints a picture of how much a wife blesses a husband, and visa-versa. To touch the tip of the iceberg, ask a married couple how they have been blessed and benefited through marriage.

He is glorified: God is glorified through marriage in many ways, but one is the way that our marriages paint a picture of Christ and His bride, the Church. Marriage is a sanctifying process in many ways, but one way is that it helps us to understand the relationship between Christ and the Church.

For more on marriage itself, talk to your pastor, your parents, and the married couples of your church. For reading, I suggest starting with “I, Isaac, Take Thee, Rebekah” by Ravi Zacharias and “What the Bible Teaches About Marriage” by Anthony Salvaggio.

So, to review thus far, we know that a wife is a good thing, and what marriage is. The next part is much trickier and cannot be covered in one blog post, so I will try to break it up over several posts: How to Find a Wife. There is no step-by-step guide to finding a wife, so don’t expect one, but there are principles evident in the Bible to guide us, and there are basic steps to get us started. A good place to start is to know what to look for in a wife. That will be the next post, though.

Until next time(which will be sooner than 3 months…),
-The Gentle Doofus