10 Ways to Prepare for Marriage with Ken and Tabatha Claytor - podcast episode cover

10 Ways to Prepare for Marriage with Ken and Tabatha Claytor

Aug 03, 202340 min
--:--
--:--
Download Metacast podcast app
Listen to this episode in Metacast mobile app
Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more

Episode description

Send us a text

Ever wondered why some relationships flourish while others flounder? Today, we're going to guide you on a journey to unlock the answers. We start by shattering a common misconception: your satisfaction comes from God, not from being married. With insights drawn from our own experiences, both as singles and married individuals, we propose 10 transformative ways to prime yourself for marriage. Our aim is to help you step into marriage as a fulfilled individual, rather than two halves seeking completion.

Let's switch gears a bit and venture into the exciting, yet often puzzling world of dating. Cultivating an unshakeable level of inner confidence is key. No desperation allowed here! We'll explain why having a life outside of dating is just as important as the dating itself. We'll also talk about why it's essential to focus more on spiritual qualities rather than being overly hung up on physical appearances. 

And finally, are you ready to make your marriage a success? We'll highlight the value of investing time in prayer, mission trips, and small groups. It's about being actively engaged in the work of the Lord. We'll also discuss the importance of being in the best shape of your life - spiritually, emotionally, and physically. And no, we're not just talking about hitting the gym, but presenting the best version of yourself in every possible way. Remember, you don't have to wait until you're married to learn about marriage. So, whether you're single, dating, or considering proposing, join us as we share our experiences and insights to guide you on your relationship journey.

GET THE BETTER MARRIAGE BOOTCAMP HERE:

Better Marriage Bootcamp (kenandtabatha.com)

Better Marriage 90-Day Devotional:
90 Day Better Marriage Devotional - Ken and Tabatha (square.site)

DOWNLOAD THE FAMILY MEETING OUTLINE HERE ⬇️
https://www.kenandtabatha.com/pl/2148103888

Support Our Ministry:
https://myalivechurch.org/give


Connect with us:

- Website:

https://www.kenclaytor.com
https://www.tabathaclaytor.com
https://www.myalivechurch.org

- Socials:

Instagram -

https://www.instagram.com/kenclaytor/
https://www.instagram.com/tabathaclaytor/
https://www.instagram.com/myalivechurch/

TikTok-

@Ken_Claytor
@Tabathaclaytor
@myalivechurch

Facebook-

https://www.facebook.com/PastorKenClaytor
https://www.facebook.com/pastortabathaclaytor
https://www.facebook.com/myalivechurch

- Ask us questions:

info@kenandtabatha.com




Transcript

Preparing Yourself for Marriage

Speaker 1

Hey , welcome to Doing Life with Ken and Tabitha . We are so pumped that you're tuning into this podcast . It has been designed for people just like you . We wanna do life with you , share our wins , our defeats , our ups and our downs , in hopes that you'll grow closer to God and to the people that you love in your life . Sit back and enjoy today's podcast .

Hey , what's up everybody ? Hey , everyone . Thank you so much for tuning to another episode today of Doing Life with Ken and Tabitha . Today is for the single people who are out there , if you know , people who are not married yet . This is for you 10 ways to prepare yourself for marriage . Thank you so much for tuning in .

If you are newer to our podcast , welcome . We are so glad . We pray all the time God let people who need to find our show let them find it , and we hope to bring value to your life and help you grow closer to God and closer to the people that God has placed in your life . This is my wife , tabitha . We've been married for 24 years .

You're looking beautiful , as always . Sweetheart , if I could sing God , sing to you right now . Is there anything on your heart that God's been speaking to you about ? Anything that's like man ? I've been studying this , looking at this , and I just want our audience to know this Do you have this revelation ?

Speaker 2

I don't know if I have the whole revelation yet but I can tell you what I've been studying and so I don't know , it's maybe like a month ago or so . I asked the Lord , for whatever reason , just like help me to be more aware of your presence , help me to be more aware of the Holy Spirit who is with me .

And since then I just had been running into and studying scripture about the spirit and spiritual maturity , growing in , the gifts of the spirit growing in because we are a spirit , we have a soul and we live in the body . And so many times I'll speak to myself I can focus on the body , the body , the body .

I need to exercise , I need to eat , I need to drink water , I need to take these vitamins , I need to get dressed , what I look like . So there's so much focus on the body . But I heard a really old school preacher that I was listening to .

He said I am so aware of my spirit being that sometimes I just forget about my body , and I thought that was like crazy , right , like you're just kind of like a ghost walking around and you can take that to the negative too . Like you gotta think about your body .

But , anyway , with all that being said , I am focusing on who I am , the spirit being the image and likeness of God and the spirit and growing in the gifts of the spirit , growing spiritually mature .

Speaker 1

I think you said in the beginning being aware of the presence of the Lord .

Speaker 2

Aware of the presence of the Lord . And it's quite a journey , it's nice .

Speaker 1

Well , good , well , let's journey on . Praise God . Well , anyway , guys , if you really want to grow spiritually , come to a live conference .

Okay , if you want more information about a live conference happening in Orlando , florida , the second week of October , we would love to have our audience you guys who are tuning in to come into Orlando spend three days with us . If you want more information , check out our website . Get your ticket before they are all sold out .

Today's show is entitled 10 Ways to Prepare Yourself for Marriage . All right , I wanna build some quick foundation for today before we dive into those 10 steps . You do not have to be married y'all to be fulfilled . Can you talk about that Foundation number one ?

Speaker 2

Absolutely . Our fulfillment comes from God . It comes from Jesus Christ . When we accept him as our personal Lord and Savior . He is the fulfillment , he's everything that we need .

The Holy Spirit of God , you know Like we are fulfilled in Christ , and so I think a lot of times we hear that when we get married , like this is my better half , you know , or like the two halves will become a whole , and that's kind of like it's not true . You know , we're not less of a person because we're not married .

Speaker 1

If you are waiting to get married to be fulfilled , you're gonna be sadly disappointed when you get married . You wanna come into marriage already being fulfilled . You already wanna be two holds coming together . You don't wanna be two halves coming together , and so I just wanna hit that from the beginning .

We're not sharing this with you because there's some people who feel a call to singleness . Like Paul and like Jesus , I say right on , do what you do . But the majority of people probably wanna be married one day . So we wanna give them these 10 things in preparation for that .

My second part of foundation would be sometimes God will hold something back from you because you're not ready yet , and I think that's important to know . Number one you don't have to be married to be fulfilled . But number two sometimes you are still single because , honestly , you're not ready for anybody yet you would get married and tear it up .

You would tear yourself up , you would tear them up . It would just be a tear up fest , and I don't believe that God will put on you more than you can really handle . I do believe that , as a good father , he doesn't want the blessing to become a burden .

And so if I was in a single season and I love this , because what a lot of people say well , y'all been married 24 years . Well , you've been single just as long as you've been married . Now I crossed that threshold that I've been married a couple of years longer than I was single . But you got married when you was 24 ? 23 . 23 ?

Yeah , okay , you got one year .

Speaker 2

Yeah .

Speaker 1

So you've been married now 24 years , single 23 . I guess what I'm saying is that we know what it's like to be single , even though it was a while ago .

But we also pastor a bunch of single people and I think I want people to know that sometimes if you're believing God for your Boaz , believing God for a husband , believing God for a wife , sometimes he has not released that , because you have to work on you and you got to do a deep work to develop your patience , your selflessness , your mindset , because I'm

telling you , marriage is a magnifier and it will magnify those inconsistencies . And so Proverbs 24-7 , it says prepare your work outside and get it ready for yourself in the field . Afterward , build your house and establish your home . Proverbs gives us an order .

It says get your landscaping ready , do your engineering work , do your topography for where you gonna build this house . You need to get the blueprints and the engineering work done and after you do that , build your house .

There's a lot of people who are building their house , but they haven't worked on their heart , they haven't worked on the soil of their heart . They haven't worked on their mindset , their hurts , their habits , their hangups , and they're trying to build something on a faulty foundation .

We want to get you prepared , and that's what I want to give you 10 ways to prepare yourself now as a single . That's good For what you say you won't . Are you ready ? I'm ready . One is don't compare your relationship status to anybody else's .

There are too many people that are down low , sad , because somebody else is living the dream that you desperately want . They see their friends getting married and they're still single . They see their friends going on honeymoon and they at home . They see their friends having children , but they don't have anybody to have children with .

And what I've learned is that you never really know what's going on behind closed doors . You don't really know . There are a lot of people posting pictures that they happy , but they ain't really happy . There are a lot of people who are married , but they wish to God they were single .

And then you got the single people wishing to God they were married and it's all like you gotta be content at whatever state you're in . What do you think ?

Speaker 2

about that . I like that and I noticed what you said is that you know before that you talked about maybe God , you know , maybe you need to get yourself together first . You know what I mean and sometimes , you know , I think some people can be single and maybe they're waiting on their , their husband or their wife , to get it together .

I mean , I've met so many people . Who Would you help them get themselves ?

Speaker 1

together .

Speaker 2

No , no , like the person that God has for you , god's working on them right now . God needs another six months until they're , until they're ready . You know what I mean . Like God , give me another three months , give me another year , because I got the right person for you . But , trust me , wait for it . Wait for it and it's gonna be good when it comes .

But you know , sometimes you know the people that we see out there and they're in , maybe having trouble in their relationships . They didn't wait , they didn't want to wait six months , yeah , and they rushed into that .

Speaker 1

Okay . Number two don't believe the lies of the enemy . Okay , and that's one thing you have to choose now as a single person , Because the Bible calls Satan a liar . No , it actually calls him the father of lies . So all of the lies that we hear basically originates with Satan . He's the father of it .

So he says this kind of thing to single people You're not attractive , You're defective . Nobody's ever gonna want you . You're too old now . Who wants to be with you ? And you got all those kids . Your standards are too high . Your standards are too low . What man gonna want you with all you've done ? What woman's gonna want you ?

And you don't have this and you don't have that . And sometimes you just gotta say shut up , devil . You gotta put them underneath your feet , because the devil is a liar . He's actually the father of those lies .

Speaker 2

Yeah , I would say you know when I think about let's just , let's , let's just use common sense with it . You know what I mean . And really , like you , can look around at all kinds of people who are married . They might not be attractive , they might not have good jobs , they might not be smart . You would never marry them .

And my point in that is , the enemy will try to look at you and say , well , you're not married because you're too fat , you're too ugly , you're too , you're not smart enough , you don't have . You know , those are all lies , because there's a bunch of married people out there today . None of those Doesn't make sense . Devil , that's a dumb .

That you know , that's dumb . That doesn't make sense . Come , come again . Try , you know , try something else . This one , I'm too smart for that one .

Speaker 1

I've even seen people who were once married before or they were in some long-lasting relationship and after that relate after the divorce or after that relationship was over .

That person that they split from on the way out the door says all these mean things about like this is why it's over , because you're not this and that's why I'm leaving with this person and I'm going to be with this person and you're not this and you're not that .

And you do have to go through a season where you send those words back the hell , where they absolutely because those people do not define you and always . I know . I heard a saying years ago that one man's trash is another man's treasure , and just because somebody treats you like trash doesn't mean that you're actually trash and .

Your treasure because of who God says that you are yes , you're an heir of God and a joint heir with Christ Jesus . You are a royal priesthood , a holy nation , and it doesn't matter the because when people break up with you or break it off , satan tries to use them to tear down who you are and you got to go back to the word to build yourself up .

Speaker 2

Yeah , and and also people who speak those kind of mean , you know , abusive , unkind things , don't listen to them . They don't respect themselves enough to not let those nasty things come out of their mouth . I'm not about to sit here and listen to what you had to say . Come on , I just Don't go there number three would be don't be pressed .

Speaker 1

That's what I would want somebody who's single to know in the preparation season . Don't be pressed . I'm not saying don't give people the cold shoulder . I think people do that too much too . Yes , it's almost like you act , so not pressed . You're not even baiting a hook .

Speaker 2

Mm-hmm .

Speaker 1

So people would think that you're not even interested in dating or seeing anybody because you actually took it too far . You want to say something about that ? You look like .

Speaker 2

I mean I've probably done well , you know both of those things in the past . But yeah , when it comes to you know the whole . I mean both of them . Okay , let's take the press one for being pressed . Yeah , I mean especially for girls .

Now , you know , I can say this because I'm a woman , especially for women , what I would , you know , I I find that women who chase the man usually Never , usually I mean there , I know some usually somehow I'm not saying initiate , because women you can initiate like would you like to go , like coffee , or like I'm not saying , I'm not saying initiate

Dating

.

Speaker 1

I'll go back to the Chase .

Speaker 2

I'm saying you chase after him , he don't call you . You call him , he don't ask you . You know like you're always chasing after him .

Speaker 1

Work listen after that first date , you know if he's not Let you know if we're interested you know , we actually guys , are wired to want kind of the thrill of the hunt a little bit and like if you take away the chase , that's actually don't be too easy for him , let him work for it .

He was the work for his meal even back in the day when I was not living for God , like if a girl was too easy Mm-hmm , I would take which was easy , but then didn't want to talk to her any long Mm-hmm and I know that sad I'm saying long time ago , long time ago , before being filled with the Holy Spirit back when I was in the world .

If it's too easy , it's too easy . Yeah . And then there's people that make it too hard . But when I say , don't be pressed , give me what comes to your mind , any examples . Don't be pressed .

Speaker 2

Like I said , you know blowing them up on his you know , no , on his cell phone . You know all these texts , all these voice messages . You've stalking him on social media . You're , you know , asking his friends and stuff . Where is he like ? Just like , leave him alone .

Let him come and find out what you like , what your favorite color is , what restaurant you like to go to like , just you know , leave him alone for me it would be .

Speaker 1

Being pressed , will be go too deep too fast . You know you're on a first date . You kind of got a . You got to wade the water . There's a wisdom with this thing , you know . Mm-hmm too too easy or available you know , I'm saying like you should have some things like , hey , you want to go out Thursday . Well , you know what ?

I got this class that I do on Thursday night . Okay , how's Friday ? Okay , you're Friday , I can't do six , but I can do lunch . I mean like not , you know , like like they call you go ahead and you know , not saying like you don't have to be fake , but be .

Speaker 2

You know you be real and genuine in it . Like you know you have a life . You know what I mean . Do things that you like to do .

Go to the YMCA , do an exercise program , join a small group , you know , take a new class , have something that you're doing and you're interested in , so that when he does come along you like , oh snap , no , I cuz I got my small group . On Tuesday is seven o'clock , so how's Thursday at six ?

Speaker 1

you know like you know I can't explain exactly what I mean by pressed , but I would say that's a person who lacks a level of security and inner confidence .

And I just feel like , as a woman of God and even as a man of God , that when it comes to the dating , there should be a knowing who you are , there should be a little level of confidence that's exuding , to where it's not like you're just so thirsty .

Speaker 2

Yeah , you're just gonna gotta know that about yourself , know that about yourself . Spend enough time in the presence of God , knowing that God loves you . Yeah , so that the you know when he's telling you I mean cuz he could be just a joker , you know what I mean like not really , he just , you know , is really not that into you , but this is what he does .

He's not ready to settle down yet . He don't believe what you believe , all of that stuff .

And so that he says if you're thirsty or if you're oppressed and you you want , you know , you're hungry for love like that , because you don't have it from God , maybe you don't know who you are , you haven't had spent their time in the word to build yourself up in the word of God .

The first time he says oh , you're so beautiful , I love you , all of these things . Now you fall for it .

Speaker 1

Yes .

Speaker 2

You had me hello and you end up . It never is . Most of the time it doesn't even . You don't even end up at the altar .

Speaker 1

It's just another broken relationship , another , you know soul tie , another and so we're not saying come over here towards cockiness and it's cold and it's hard to get , but there's just a level of confidence that you have in the security . And it's almost this position of if I get married , praise God , and if I don't , praise God like I'm good with who I am .

I desire that I want to spend my life with someone , but if I don't , I'm still gonna have joy and peace and you know all of that number four . Don't be too picky . All right , and I don't know if this is a man thing more than a woman thing . You tell me , but sometimes I feel like we are too picky , specifically when it comes to you .

Know , you got to be picky on spiritual things .

Speaker 2

You know what I'm saying .

Speaker 1

I want to make sure , if I was single , to find somebody that's going my same direction . I don't want to be unequally yoked trying to drag you to church every Sunday , absolutely get you to tithe , and trying to get you to give and live right . I don't know if you Right .

I mean , I'm gonna be picky when it comes to spiritual things , but when it comes to like how a person looks , I Don't know . I just feel like I mean talk to people are too picky . I think they too picky . I mean , you've been single for 47 years and now it's like , well , I don't know , he's just not tall enough . Like what they got to do with it .

Like do we got a job ? Do you love ? Wow , dude , does it go to the gym ? Okay , I mean , I don't know , is that ? Is that just me ?

Speaker 2

I think I mean , when it comes to being attracted to someone at least , you need to be attracted to the person , yeah , but being picky as far as he has to be a certain height , a certain skin color , a Certain you know like .

Speaker 1

I think that's , that's different but I think that some people bring those things over into there if they're attractive or not , because People are can be attractive more than how they first look physically . Their personality can be attractive , they're thought absolutely they're into their confidence .

Speaker 2

They're swag .

Speaker 1

That's what we mean , yeah but sometimes we're so picky that they don't even get a first date or second date , because you're just judging how a person looks like on the outside .

Speaker 2

Yeah .

Speaker 1

I don't know if I mean tell me if you think differently , but I'm just like I think it's true .

Speaker 2

I mean it's hard to say , but I think we both know Several people over several years who we'd be like well , what about this person ? What about that person ? No response was so , like you know , in a way that we'd be like hmm , you might not ever get a husband or wife if you're judging off .

Speaker 1

That's what I'm feeling . That's . Yeah so over the years , people of God , we've had people that have been a part of our church or that we've known that really want to be married . And when we say , hey , what about this person ?

Speaker 2

It's like and they're great people , they're great people .

Speaker 1

We know them . Yeah , we know them , but they don't look like Denzel or something right saying . They're not like Patrick Swayze . I'm just throwing out names . I don't know . Women think , okay , good looking , I don't know , but anyway , but it's just like but , but it's like nah , nah , nah and we like why not ?

Yeah , you've been believing God for 15 years , why not ?

Speaker 2

I think God did me a favor when I when he did , yes , he did because , like I , I was just hopeless without God and I think that's the thing is just , you know , be Ask the Lord to help you with this .

You know , like I think , sometimes I hear singles they write a list , you know , of , not demands , but you know my this is what I'm believing , this is what I'm believing God for .

We present that to God , but just like you present that to God , in the same way God helped me with anything on this list that I need to change , even if , if he's , you know , if the person you have for me is not anything like this list , show me Lord , because I think sometimes I don't know , because we gotta give you the desires of your heart , and I

know that and you have not , cuz you asked , not all of that stuff , but I would not have been on her list .

Speaker 1

Let me just say I would not have been on her list .

Speaker 2

You were not on .

Speaker 1

I am better than her list . I am . I check all the boxes that her list didn't even know that it needed .

Speaker 2

I didn't even know . No oh , my goodness . And so , yeah , like

The Importance of Preparation for Marriage

. So when I met you , I would like I didn't even want it . You know , I was just done with men all together because I thought that all men were just cheaters and liars and disgusting . I didn't want anything to do with men . Okay , I was about to miss it .

But when I turned around and looked at you , in fact you asked me hey , you know what's my , what's your name or whatever ? And I was like ignoring you . I was just like didn't want to talk to you at all . But you said I saw you in church on Sunday and that's how God helped me , because I wasn't gonna look at you at all like we .

Just I was gonna give you a fake number , you would not know .

Speaker 1

I wouldn't say but I don't feel like you looked at me and was like you're not tall enough and you're not dark enough . No , I didn't do that , not at all , not at all and those were might have been some of the things on your natural list .

Speaker 2

But when I yeah , on my natural list it would have been tall , dark skin , bald head . I was . I like Tyson Beckford back in the day , which he was a supermodel like all of this stuff . You mad because I said his name .

Speaker 1

I'm mad cuz you said his name , cuz there's women that I be saying their names and when I say they names you be like it's not appropriate .

Speaker 2

Well , you don't like cuz . I don't want you from the stage .

Speaker 1

I'm gonna say all their names right now . What's up girl ?

Speaker 2

Well , the point is back in the day because now , yeah , I probably shouldn't have said a name , but now I know , please , I'm completely duck herself in the whole washed . The point was the point is Physical , physically wise you said that . Cuz you just want to say stuff .

No , you've never told me not to say the name people that I told you yeah , cuz I don't care .

Speaker 1

That's a long time ago , I don't know . You know , have babies by me and I care . Got my ring on . I don't care about that , but same wrong the way you care . Anyway , number five is don't settle .

Speaker 2

Did we ever finish the ?

Speaker 1

no . Number four was don't be too picky . Yeah , number five is don't settle , and these two points go hand in hand . Yeah because there's some people that's too picky , and then there's some people that settle , and so sometimes we say , well , I ain't gonna be picky , I don't mean go marry McGillagorilla At the same time who's McGillagorilla ?

I don't know , but don't settle , and so Only the wisdom will help you identify If you are too picky or if you're settling , because we're saying both yeah and so when it comes to settling , it's kind of like you know , do you enjoy being around this person ? Yeah do they get you ? Do you feel better when you're around them ? Do they add value to you ?

Are you going the same direction ? Do you have same spiritual passions ? Don't settle for those things . Yeah , I'm not trying to drag you into the end zone the rest of my life .

Speaker 2

I was gonna say I know for women . I think in what I see in the church world is a lot of women settle for men who aren't spiritually mature well , why is that ? I think because they're settling , they're just like well , he's good enough , he comes to church with me on Sunday , so I think there is a .

Speaker 1

What is it when there's a scarcity ? Maybe there's a shortage of spiritually mature men ?

Speaker 2

and I'm not judging them at all .

Speaker 1

I think that many times , when men get married , you God uses their wife to help them mature .

Speaker 2

Amen .

Speaker 1

Meaning that I think there's a reason for that . I'm not saying that it's right . I'm not saying that I'm you know that I can quantify it . I'm just saying that I think that's the problem . But go ahead . What's your point ?

Speaker 2

I was going to ask you for men . I think you know , for men who settle .

Do you feel like a lot of men settle for women that they don't necessarily maybe they're not attracted to , they settle because she's there , maybe that she is rude and kind of you know , always got to come back , but they settle because it's basically like , well , I'm just going to listen to her , she wants to get married and she won't leave me alone , so I'm

just going to get married .

Speaker 1

In my experience , I do not think that men settle as much as women do . Okay , it just in my experience .

In my experience , though , I have seen men settle , and when they settle it's more like , well , I wasn't really attracted to her , but she was so nice and she loved the Lord and she checked all these boxes , but I wasn't really attracted to her , and I do believe that when you get married , you need to be attracted to that person .

There is a romantic , physical , intimate side of our relationship . That's very , very important , not saying that he has to be , you know , have a six pack or so forth , but there needs to be a level of like . I'm attracted to this person , and so that's where I see God settling , but I don't think it's like the common thing .

Speaker 2

Wow .

Speaker 1

But anyway , don't settle , but don't be too picky . Number six will be get your finances right , and to me that's important as a relation to preparation before marriage . You don't want to come and God finally put somebody in your life and it's like , well , you know , I got all this debt and my credit is messed up .

We don't want them to be like you used to be , and so I had this whole project that I took on . When I said I do to you , I said I do the bad credit to debt to people , and so I had to , for the first two , three years , just work ourself out of a hole . That's not God's best , and we didn't know nothing back then , but that's not God's best .

And so what I'm suggesting is that in the preparation season , you're still single . You don't have anybody . This is the time for you to boss it . This is the time for you to climb up the ladder of success in your career . This is the time for you to buy a home .

Yes , if you are single , go buy you a home when Now , that is the foundation of your wealth . These houses are appreciating in most markets . Not sure what nation you're in , but here in America , in most cities , stuff is appreciating . You're getting a tax deduction . You already own a home . Fine , turn that one into a rental property .

Do a long-term rental , do an Airbnb rental . You got two or three homes , fine , go get you another one . If real estate is not your thing , invest in stocks , mutual funds , maybe a business here and there . This is just a time where you don't have the responsibility to take care of that husband .

You can be number one about the work of the Lord , but number two you can get your financial house in order . So when you finally meet somebody , it's like you're meeting somebody that adds value to you and you're adding value to them .

Speaker 2

Anything on that ? No , that's good .

Speaker 1

Okay , number seven , I would say deal with your past and get healed , because in the season of preparation , like I say , marriage is a magnifier .

And so if you have a bunch of hurts and habits and hangups from past trauma , specifically childhood trauma a lot of what is manifesting today , if you talk to most psychologists , whether it be confusion and gender or even sexuality , they will tell you that 85% of people that are struggling in those areas have childhood trauma that's been unresolved .

I was just talking to a certified psychologist counselor and she was telling me that they will say well , I'm this way . Am I trauma that I've been through help me come to my realization of who I really am ?

When , truthfully , the trauma that you've been through helped you believe that lie , it molded you into that , and all it is is that I have not really dealt with trauma in a biblical , godly way and I just feel like if you don't deal with your past , it's gonna come up in your future .

It's gonna come up , and there are a lot of people that are rushing into marriage without dealing with the fact that I felt rejection and abandonment from someone who was in my past . This is what I saw , this is the abuse , and so then you get married and it's manifesting in your sex life .

It's manifesting in the way that you perceive the opposite gender because you just didn't deal with the junk in the trunk .

Speaker 2

Wow , that is so true . I mean , I'll say that firsthand . That's exactly what

Preparing for a Successful Marriage

I did . I did not deal with my past . I got married and there was my past . I brought it into the marriage with me , and so when we were married , I was depressed with severe depression and anxiety . I was taking antidepressants , I was going through therapy , I was working it out in our marriage and it affected our marriage .

I mean , it almost ended our marriage and so it was harder to do inside of the marriage . How much better would it have been if I came to the marriage completely healed from my past .

Speaker 1

It would have been so good . I mean , you can do it , you can do it . You can do it Because a lot of people say , well , I need to get myself together , I can't work on my marriage . Well , if you're married , you got to do both .

Speaker 2

At the same time , yeah , you got to do both .

Speaker 1

But if we're talking to single people and that's what we're- doing .

Speaker 2

You have the opportunity to do it before you get married .

Speaker 1

Number eight would be growing , god , I think , in this season . I think there's a scripture in 1 Corinthians 7 and 32 . It says but I want you to be without care . He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord , how he may please the Lord , but he who is married cares about the things of this world , how he may please his wife .

The principle is vice versa . Basically , the single people should be the most turned up people in the whole church . They should be the ones that show up when the church is opened .

They should show up for midweek , they should show up for small groups , because what the scripture is saying is that when you're single , you should first off be about the work of the Lord . I know you a boss lady , I know you a boss man , I know you a career person , but you got to put God first .

But then , when you get married , you're going to care about the things of this world , not the things like the ungodly things of this world .

You have to take care of my needs as a man and I got to take care of your needs as a woman , and so now there are certain things that I can't do for the Lord because I have to take care of the ministry of our marriage first , absolutely .

And so in the single season you get a great opportunity to go after God , like to go hard , to spend time in prayer , to go on missions trips , to go to multiple small groups . I mean you get an opportunity to build this wonderful foundation in Jesus that you can build the rest of your relationship upon .

Speaker 2

Yeah , that's so good . And I know , being a wife and a mother , there are certain times where you know , well , I'm not coming to midweek because I got to go do this with my kids and you know , having babies it's just like . You know , I can't , I can't serve right now . I just had a baby . Or you know , like , give me six weeks , you know .

So those are the like literal you have to take care of your family .

Speaker 1

Yeah , but in the single season you get to grow in the fruit of the spirit kindness and peace and gentleness and long suffering . You get to grow in the gifts of the Holy spirit , the working of miracles and the gift of faith . You get to grow . You get to study your Bible without being hindered by other people .

You get to spend time with God , not just 15 minutes , you can spend 15 hours . I mean , you got to go to work , you know , and stuff like that . But what I'm saying is that this is a great season .

Speaker 2

It is .

Speaker 1

Don't diss it . You know what I'm saying . Absolutely Don't act like , oh I'm single and it sucks . Oh , be single and satisfied Single and .

Speaker 2

Back to the preparation , like I know of a couple . They still go to our church in our Gainesville campus and they were single . I mean they maybe got married in their late 20s , early 30s and they were just about God's business , I mean just like kingdom warriors and they got married .

They have a baby now , a young baby , maybe one , two years old , but they don't have any strife . Like their marriage is like good , like they're not arguing , they're not fighting , they love the married life . But they did it right as a single . They were in the house all the time serving , not like crazy , but as much as they could .

They were serving , praying , just all kinds of stuff . And I'm just thinking about them as I think about single people . It's just like enjoying your singlehood , enjoying where you are and making the most out of it , because when you do , if it's your desire , you're gonna do it , it's gonna happen . When you do , it can be so good .

Take care of what you need to take care of in this season .

Speaker 1

So good , number nine would be getting shape .

Speaker 2

And .

Speaker 1

I would really speak this as a word over single people Like this is a season and if you're saying I'm gonna prepare my yard , I'm gonna prepare my soil and then I'm gonna build a house , this is a great time for you to get in the best shape of your life .

Speaker 2

Yeah .

Speaker 1

There's spiritual shape , there's emotional shape , but there's also physical shape , like as a single person . I just feel like I wanna teach , especially my daughters , my spiritual daughters , that is , I wanna teach you how to bait the hook . We should do a podcast on how to win a man . If you want that podcast , let us know .

I wanna give you like 10 keys of how to win a man , because many people don't bait the hook right . Like if you come out of the house like a man are visual . Most men , most men , are visual , so it does matter what you look like .

Okay , and so when you come out , you go to the public , so you might wanna go with your hair done , get your nails done , pull a makeup on .

Speaker 2

You mean , I just can't be me and walk out , and you could , you know , and I gotta go out , because if you don't like me looking like the real me , then why would I want him ?

Speaker 1

anyway , I'm just saying first catch him . First catch him , then you can clean him and then come out however you wanna come out . You know what I'm saying , like ? But what I'm saying is that men are visual and I'm not saying that you gotta go be Holly Berry how about that name ? I'm not saying that you gotta go and put and be the .

Speaker 2

There's a couple of names that you like to say .

Speaker 1

I'm not saying that you gotta go and be this model or be some perfect person on the outside , but you can be the best you , you can be .

Speaker 2

Yeah , and you don't have to be a certain shape or size , it's just to be , you know , like you say in shape yeah , the best you like . Can we just talk about that ?

Speaker 1

for a minute , because I think there's so much media pressure for women to be like a certain size . Oh my gosh . All of the pictures are like women who are zero or one in size , and the average woman is not . It's changing now which is good , but that's not our message .

Our message is like just be the best you you can be , because there's gonna be some people that are tall , there's some people that are shorter , there's gonna be some people that are more . What would it be ? Not thick ? That might not be appropriate . Heavy set I don't know what is appropriate .

Speaker 2

Big , small , short , tall , Just wider .

Speaker 1

you know there's gonna be people that are thinner , wider , bigger , taller , darker , lighter . Be the best you you can be and be happy with the skin

Be Your Best Self in Relationships

and who you are . You know what I'm saying ? Fulfill , don't try to be anybody else , but dog on it . Get yourself in the best possible shape the best .

Speaker 2

you is a healthy you .

Speaker 1

Yeah , if you go to the doctor and they say you are 35 pounds overweight , do something about it for yourself . Like , go get yourself . Like , if you're single , get into the gym . When you come to church , present the best you that you possibly can , not just at church , wherever you go , I mean , be that person .

That's like you're always putting your best self out there . And then when you get married and things change and you have kids and then you're transitioning to that season , but now you've got something that's built off love .

And honestly , when a person , person , person meets you , it ain't based off love , it's just based off of infatuation and attraction and stuff .

Speaker 2

So play those cards . That's true . That's true . What were you gonna say ? You were talking about just being your best self . You know , after you get married , you have kids . If you're women and men , men usually gain a couple pounds too whenever the woman gets pregnant and so .

But what you do is in your single state , you're just training yourself for what you're gonna do for the rest of your life . I'm always gonna be the best me . I'm always gonna be in my best health . I'm gonna go through .

You know ups and downs and you know all of this stuff , but I'm still gonna go back to being the best me and I think that's important .

Speaker 1

You know , in some of this I lean towards because , if we're to be honest , in the church the ratios are more women to men . You know , what I'm saying . Men , if they want somebody , it's like they go find them by the time they're 25 , they're married or something like that . But it applies to men too .

Like if you're single and you want somebody get in shape , like , cut your hair . You got chest hairs just coming all out of your shirt .

Speaker 2

Men , women see everything . Yeah , a lot . We notice your fingernails , we're looking at your teeth , we're looking at your eyebrows .

Speaker 1

We're looking at your ears . We're looking at it all , yeah cut them ears , Hair just growing out your ear . I mean get , you know , get , what is that stuff ?

Speaker 2

We don't need you to men , women don't need you to be perfect Okay , but we just need you to not be gross . Okay , don't be gross .

Speaker 1

Like iron your gloves , brother .

Speaker 2

Don't do anything that makes us cringe and then we just gonna cringe away from you . But if you can just handle it , hold it down a little bit .

Speaker 1

It's the same principle Be your best self .

Speaker 2

Be your best self yeah .

Speaker 1

And last but not least , number 10 is get a solid understanding of what marriage is all about . And I really feel like many single people . You know they wait till they get married to study marriage and I realized that there are some doors that you don't want to open too soon .

But I wouldn't want to wait till I drive a car to learn how to drive a car , yeah , so if you want to be married , there are some principles and that's why we're very open with our podcast and even teaching marriage stuff on Sunday . People say well , there's a bunch of single people here .

Single people don't want to wait till they're married to learn the principles of marriage . And so I'm glad that single people love our podcast , because we're giving you the clue of what to do , more importantly , what not to do to have a successful relationship if it ever happens . For you . You know , yeah , and so you know , at least from a 30,000 foot view .

No , stuff like okay , divorce is not an option . You know what I'm saying ? Family meetings , communication is important . I mean , you wanna know those things as a single , before you even get into marriage .

Speaker 2

I think that's . I never thought about that before . But you know , if you're single and you're always reading all these books about being single , you're just learning about how to stay single . You know , but you will need to at one point if you At one point you gotta transition .

Speaker 1

It's almost like okay , let's say there's nobody on the horizon , you just know maybe a little bit about marriage and you start dating somebody you might wanna look a little bit more . You start talking about engagement , you wanna know more . You know what I'm saying .

It's almost like , but I don't want you just to come from single into married and you really don't know . I think we did that .

Speaker 2

I don't know . I don't know if it's like . You know , I'm single and I read a book on marriage and all of a sudden I got some marriage spirit on me . That what am I gonna go fornicate and do something crazy ? Well , that's how people act , like .

Speaker 1

They act like , oh , and we see it in the comments Like if we release something about sex , like Sex God's Way , sex God's Way , part one and two , y'all go check that out . Or five things every husband needs to know about improving his sex life , you'll see , well , I gotta stay away from that .

Oh , I can't see that , and I guess I get it a little bit , because there are some intimate things that we're sharing that they can't experience or even apply right now . But I think the opposite is just this detrimental . Where people are like , oh , I don't wanna get like that spirit on me yet I'm single , I can't handle it . Like , no , you can't .

Speaker 2

Maybe when it comes to detailed sex or something like that .

Speaker 1

yeah , Well , we don't do that on this podcast . We talk about like regular stuff , like orgasms and , like you know , pleasing each other , not recognizing sex , and that ain't that deep . It's just biology . Honestly , it's not . It's not that deep Like we talk about penis , vagina If you don't know what a clitoris is and stuff like that , like this is anatomy .

I don't know why we have made stuff so religious , like we're talking about anatomy . I'm talking to my kids . I just talked to my 13 year old son about masturbation , about erections and ejaculations 12 years old . I'm talking to him about I'm using like anatomy terms . Like you're not gonna learn this in the locker room , bro .

Speaker 2

You get an erection .

Speaker 1

You need to know what that is . How many are you having ? Okay , this is what it is . This is what puberty is .

Speaker 2

And if not , he's sitting around looking crazy Like , oh my God , what is going on ?

Speaker 1

Yeah , but I just feel like , for some reason , when we talk about like intimacy and stuff like that , when I read the book of Solomon it's amazing to me .

Speaker 2

He talks about the pomegranate .

Speaker 1

That can almost be like oh , that's just too much for me . But you watching 50 shades of gray , it's like this is too much for you , but you watch rated R movies . So , no , no , this is not too much for you . It's gonna be okay . It's okay , you can hear this , but still keep yourself disciplined .

And the church said amen , amen , we out of time for today . Guys , we love you so much and we hope that you enjoyed today's podcast . If you did enjoy this content , let us know right now , by commenting , liking , sharing and even writing a review , your feedback . It blesses us .

We'd love to know how this is being used to improve your life in God and the life of your relationship with the people that God has placed in your life . If you're new to our podcast , hit the subscribe button right now . We want you to join our family and be the first to get the content . We release new content every Thursday at 3 pm .

If you wanna come hang with us , come to Orlando . We're having a live conference the second week and October tickets are going fast . Make sure that you get yours on today . And we love you , guys , and we'll see you real soon . Peace .

Transcript source: Provided by creator in RSS feed: download file
For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android