As you get ready for your wedding day, spend time praying that it will be a time where all who witness the marriage will see the gospel through your commitment to one another. The Lord loves to use marriages and weddings to point others to His eternal love and salvation.
Engagement is a time of great excitement, busyness, and preparation. It is important not to allow this season to go by without being intentional about the heart work that the Holy Spirit wants to do in this time. Whether you are getting married for the very first time or this is not your first rodeo, let’s take a look at Bible verses for engagement.
Proverbs 16:9 - “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”
One of the most question-filled times in one’s life can be wedding planning. Between caterers, venues, pastors, musicians, seating charts and finding the attire, wedding planning can easily become overwhelming. It is so valuable to remember in the midst of decision making that we can make plans and have dreams, but in the end, we need to leave the results up to God. He is the One who ultimately holds our wedding days. He knows the weather, the hiccups that will go wrong, and the sweet moments that we will have with loved ones.
It is easy to have an attitude of being controlling, and so it is very important that we release that in surrender to the Lord. He cares for us, and we can absolutely make plans, but it is vital to regularly seek Him out in the midst of them.
Proverbs 16:2 - “All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the LORD.”
Engagement season is one of the most tempting times. You know in your hearts that you are committed to each other, but not under a covenant with God or the law yet. It can be easy to make compromising decisions and push the boundaries you worked hard for in dating. Passion takes over and leaves people with regrets if they are not careful.
The Lord has brought you to a season of preparation, and that means that you definitely prepare to be intimate with one another personally and have conversations about expectations and desires for the future, but it is very important to be cautious and in step with the Spirit in purity. Sometimes something seems pure to us, but the Lord weighs our motives and knows our hearts. Ask God to help you honor Him with purity of mind and body in this season of “not yet but almost.”
Revelation 19:7-9 - “’Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure’ — for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ And he said to me, ‘These are the true words of God.’”
Jesus is described as our Bridegroom in Heaven. The church (the body of Christ/all believers) are His bride. We are called to be preparing for Him. In the season of engagement, there is great preparation for the upcoming marriage. An earthly marriage is a symbol and witness of the marriage that the Lamb (Jesus) has with His bride (the church). As you get ready for this momentous day in your life, reflect on the fact that this is a similar feeling to how we should always be as we await the coming of our Groom.
Just like a bride might workout, do beauty treatments, read about marriage, and prepare, we should be making ourselves ready for Jesus to return. This can motivate us to clothe ourselves with His armor, live by the fruit of the Spirit, share the gospel to invite others. Experiencing the joy of wedding preparation can lead us to greater intimacy and worship of our Savior and our eternal Groom.
Isaiah 62:5 - “For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.”
This is also a time to reflect on God’s abundant love for you. As a groom rejoices over his bride, God rejoices over you. This is great love and forever commitment. Christ has made a covenant with us and we are His forever. During engagement, take time to ponder how wonderful it is that Jesus pursued your heart and made a way for you to be with Him, forever free from death and sin.
Proverbs 12:15 - “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a wise man is he who listens to counsel.”
Engagement is a time of learning and listening from successful, godly marriages. It is a season to soak in the knowledge and experiences from others. Having a mentor couple or a pastor lead you through pre-marital counseling, reading books, and having accountability partners are wise additions to getting ready to meet your future spouse at the altar. Everything aesthetic for the wedding can be done, but if we neglect our hearts and learning, we neglect a very important tool of preparation.
The Lord tells us that a wise man listens to counsel. We are foolish to think that we will know all the answers in marriage and we know how to “do things right.” There is great maturity and wisdom when we can listen to how other Christian married couples have kept Jesus at the center of their marriages, adjusted to newlywed life, set up boundaries, achieved practical tasks, and handled conflict. There is such a beautiful benefit to preparing for marriage with mentors who have Christ-like wisdom to pass on. We can avoid heartache and conflicts that they faced by just listening and applying what they share.
As you get ready for your wedding day, spend time praying that it will be a time where all who witness the marriage will see the gospel through your commitment to one another. The Lord loves to use marriages and weddings to point others to His eternal love and salvation. This is a time of transition and God will meet you in the midst of it.
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