7 Things Men Should Do BEFORE Marriage

1. Develop a Strong Work Ethic. 

When I was a young boy, I had the privilege of spending some time with my Great-Grandfather. He was a hard-working farmer who had raised nine kids and built a house with his own hands. He never earned more than $5 per hour, but through his discipline and work ethic, when he died, he left his family a farm and estate worth over one million dollars! He never lived to see smart phones, but he probably would have thought grown men playing PokemonGO were wasting their lives. He was a tough man. His individual knuckles were each the size of my fists. Even in his late eighties, he still had the strength to take down a young whippersnapper if he had wanted to. Despite his rugged strength and grit, he was tenderhearted and kind. He was quick to play with his grandkids, laugh with his friends, kiss his wife, give a dog treat to his old mutt and he’d shed a tear every time he talked about Jesus.

Men often fail in marriage (and in life) simply because they don’t know how to work hard. They give up the moment something becomes difficult. We live in a generation where his brand of manhood might seem antiquated, but I believe we have a lot to learn from his approach, because there are many ways that we as modern men are missing the mark. I’m not saying we all have to fit into a narrow definition of masculinity or all be able to handle power tools (My wife Ashley is actually MUCH better with tools than I am). What I am saying is that we need to recapture that sense of hard work which he developed as a young boy and it shaped all he did later in life. Don’t look for handouts. Look for way to get your hands dirty and calloused doing honest, hard work. It will serve you well all your life and make you a better husband and father someday. 

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” Colossians 3:23

#2 means running towards something most men are running away from...