Marriage myth No. 1: Some day my prince will come

I begin a series of posts today that I plan to add to each of the next several weeks and possibly intermittently beyond that. Each post will be about misguided thinking about singleness and marriage that Christians sometimes engage in. I have entitled it “Marriage myth,” but some of the posts will apply to those who are unmarried as well.

Marriage is a God-ordained and God-blessed institution. God has given it as a gift to all humanity, not just Christians. I am so thankful for marriage and for the wife God blessed me with in marriage. In none of these posts do I intend to minimize or denigrate marriage. I only hope to provide some corrections for what appear to be some flawed ideas about marriage, as well as singleness.

As you read these posts, I would like you to do so with this in mind: I will not try to provide an expansive theology of marriage in each brief post.

Here is marriage myth No. 1:

Some day my prince will come: Okay – this is a partial myth. For some ladies, their prince will come. For others, he will not. The debilitating aspect of this partial myth is not whether a prince comes but what value Christian girls and ladies give to the sentiment expressed in this Disney song. Dreaming of a husband may not be harmful, but it can be a joy-robbing belief if you prioritize it at the expense of this all-important truth: Your King already has come, and He is coming again. No matter how sweet the thought and no matter how ingrained it is in many girls’ dreams, this “prince” obsession can be destructive thinking for Christians. A follower of Christ should be following Christ rather than Snow White. God has marriage for most Christians. Marriage is a good, God-given blessing, but it is not ultimate. God is. Every Christian young lady should make fellowship with Jesus her most ardent pursuit and let her desire for and preparation for marriage line up behind it.