As young women approach marriageable age, it is good and prudent to give thought to those qualities desirable in a future husband. Being a Christian and 98.6 degrees should not be enough. Ideally, daughters should have a good model in Dad, but sometimes, for various reasons, this is not the case. Nevertheless, Scripture provides light on the subject. The following list of questions may provide a start. These are not the only questions, but they do cover some of the more important bases.

How should a young man seek a wife? What should his criteria be? First, a few important pointers on what not to do. Do not hand out xerox copies of this article at the college and career class at church, announcing in a loud voice that you are ready for the marital state, and are earnestly praying about it. That makes godly young women jumpy; they want to get married too, but not to a blunderbuss.

This article is directed to unmarried women, whether young and in their fathers’ households, older and on their own, or widows who would like to remarry. The principle is that you must guard your heart so that it does not become entangled emotionally without the protection of a covenant. Many of these exhortations that follow may seem a trifle negative, but believe me, the results will be positive.

Barb Thomas (and her family) on the fight for sexual purity, especially among Christian young people

In late October, 2003, southern California was dry as a bone. Weeks of 100 degree weather had turned nearly all the vegetation into brittle, brown spikes. One flash of lightning later, followed by a road flare from a lost hiker, and this parched area was ignited into a huge wildfire. Within days it had turned into a firestorm. Seven weeks later, 26 people had lost their lives, four counties and 750,000 acres were burned,

My wife worries this will scare all the boys off. Oh, no: wouldn't that be a shame?

This article is directed to unmarried women, whether young and in their fathers’ households, older and on their own, or widows who would like to remarry. The principle is that you must guard your heart so that it does not become entangled emotionally without the protection of a covenant. Many of these exhortations that follow may seem a trifle negative, but believe me, the results will be positive.

If you are familiar with Pride and Predjudice, either the book or one of the better films, you remember Mrs. Bennet. Her preoccupation with finding husbands for her daughters was a shame to the sensible members of her family. Her chief interest in life was in finding out what new men were in the neighborhood and whether they were unattached. In the book, Mrs. Bennet is a humorous and somewhat harmless character. But in real life, a woman like Mrs. Bennet can not only make people feel uncomfortable and awkward with her meddling, but she can bring about real harm.
 

Because of how God made the world, with the marriage of His Son to the Church central to the story He was going to tell, and His determination to picture this in every human marriage, the fact is settled that courtships are therefore interesting. But we are sometimes too interested, or, in another way of saying the same thing, we are interested in the wrong way. And because of this, we rush ahead.

Years ago my husband and I were attending a church dinner where part of the program included asking all the "singles" in the church to stand. At that time there were only three, my oldest daughter and two young men. When my daughter's turn came to be introduced, my husband said, "She's not single. She's a daughter!"

The center must always be the law and wisdom of Scripture, and never our various actions and reactions. As the bankruptcy of the modern dating system becomes increasingly obvious, the temptation to react will be present with us on every side. But reactionary behavior is always destructive, and this does not even include the calamities brought on by overreaction.