B. Assimilating all the knowledge possible about a Christ-centered
home and marriage:
• Search the Bible for passages on marriage and the home.
• Read books by Christian counselors and pastors. Such materials are available at Christian bookstores and in church libraries.
• Take advantage of seminars, courses, and films prepared for this purpose.
• Seek counseling from a qualified pastor, marriage counselor, or Christian psychologist. Such counseling should include a comprehensive approach to marriage, including personal, spiritual, financial, and sexual matters.
6. After marriage, practice the following:
• Become involved in a Bible-teaching church where the marriage will be able to flourish spiritually, and where the future family can be received and nurtured in eternal things.
• Resolve to communicate freely and honestly with the partner on all levels of life: mental, emotional, and physical. Such a practice will help greatly in problem solving as issues arise in the marriage.
7. Pray with the inquirer for God's blessing, presence, and leading in his or her life and approaching marriage.
Scripture
"By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures" (Proverbs 24:3–4, NIV).
"Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?" (Amos 3:3, NIV).
"Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. . . . In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself" (Ephesians 5:21–22, 28, NIV).
"Likewise you husbands, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered" (1 Peter 3:7). Other suggested Scriptures: 2 Corinthians 6:14–15, NIV