MH page 359

Let those who are contemplating marriage weigh every sentiment and watch every development of character in the one with whom they think to unite their life destiny. Let every step toward a marriage alliance be characterized by modesty, simplicity, sincerity, and an earnest purpose to please and honor God. Marriage affects the afterlife both in this world and in the world to come. A sincere Christian will make no plans that God cannot approve.

Individuals should carefully evaluate character, exercise modesty and sincerity, and seek God's approval when contemplating marriage. The text offers moral and practical counsel for choosing a spouse, which represents ethical guidance rather than empirical claims.

If you are blessed with God-fearing parents, seek counsel of them. Open to them your hopes and plans, learn the lessons which their life experiences have taught, and you will be saved many a heartache. Above all, make Christ your counselor. Study His word with prayer.

Those blessed with God-fearing parents should seek their counsel and make Christ a primary counselor when planning for life decisions. The guidance concerns interpersonal relationships, family consultation, and spiritual devotion, which are ethical and practical matters.

Under such guidance let a young woman accept as a life companion only one who possesses pure, manly traits of character, one who is diligent, aspiring, and honest, one who loves and fears God. Let a young man seek one to stand by his side who is fitted to bear her share of life's burdens, one whose influence will ennoble and refine him, and who will make him happy in her love.

Young people should choose life companions based on strong moral character, diligence, honesty, and mutual support in bearing life's burdens. This offers standards and recommendations for selecting a marriage partner, categorized as ethical and relational advice.

“A prudent wife is from the Lord.” “The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her.... She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.” “She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness. She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her,” saying, “Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.” He who gains such a wife “findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favor of the Lord.” Proverbs 19:14 ; 31:11, 12, 26-29 ; 18:22 .

Scriptural passages highlight the value, wisdom, and kindness of a virtuous spouse. The paragraph consists of biblical quotations regarding marriage and character, containing no empirical claims.

However carefully and wisely marriage may have been entered into, few couples are completely united when the marriage ceremony is performed. The real union of the two in wedlock is the work of the after years.

The complete union of a married couple is a developmental process that takes place over the years following the wedding ceremony. This is a descriptive observation about relational development over time rather than a testable scientific claim.