Basic characteristics for a husband - Purposeful Procession towards Marriage pt. 3

The very basic, minimal requirements of a young man who is interested in showing his interest in or inquiring of courting a young woman are as follows:

1. He must be a Christian (2 Cor. 6:14)



2. He must be committed to biblical headship (Eph. 5:23ff)



3. He must welcome children (Ps. 127:3-5)



4. He must be a suitable priest (Josh. 24:15)



5. He must be a prophet (Eph. 6:4)



6. He must be a protector (Neh. 4:13-14)



7. He must be a provider (1 Tim. 5:18; Titus 2:5; 2 Thess. 3:10)

This list comes from Voddie Baucom in his book titled, "What he must be...if he wants to marry my daughter." I would assert that this is the bare minimum for a young man to attain if he wishes to seek out a young woman for a bride. you may look at the list and say, "Wow! You're asking for a lot there. You need to be more reasonable. You'll never find someone like that." Well, if you are ok with something less for your daughter gentlemen, then you will answer to God for not holding to a high standard of a man to entrust your daughter to. The life she leads will largely depend upon the father's evaluation of the young man who might seek her hand in marriage. We must be wise father's and sober minded in this area.

Now, let me say this: if we see a young man that has potential who may have inquired of us of our daughters, but has not quite attained these things, we should not totally dismiss him. By this, I mean that we should be those who graciously become mentors for them to help shape and mold them into mighty men of God that we will accept as son-in-laws. However, even in doing that, it must be made clear that they are not to pursue a relationship with our daughters unless we have given our permission. By pursuing a relationship, I mean that they are not to develop an emotional relationship whereby there is a seeking of a physical type relationship and showing of interest in a romantic way. Of course they may be friends, but that should be the extent of it. In my next post I will be linking to a short article on betrothal and find that it is more in line with how my mind set is. It's just that I have never actually had someone say this, so thought it would be something good for others to read.

I'll be going through these qualifications one by one over the next few posts. So stay tuned.