5 Ways Being Single Matters for Your Marriage

First, let me say right off the bat that being single is important in its own right. It is not just a waiting room for marriage. It is, in itself, a valuable and important stage of life.

That being said, the time you spend as a single person also affects your marriage. The relationships you will enter into will not happen in a vacuum. You’ll carry everything from your family of origin, your singleness, and your past decisions into the arena of marriage. And that is nothing to be afraid of, just something to be aware of. Here are five important ways your single life impacts your future marriage.

1) Who You Are

First and foremost, you are you. A marriage does not complete you. Being single is not a deficiency, it is just a situation – one of life’s many seasons and circumstances. Who you are affects your marriage more than your marriage affects who you are.

You do not lose or restart your identity when you get married. You just start to share it in an intimate way.

And so, the decisions you make, the patterns you establish, and behaviors that have become habits are going to have a voice in your marriage. Stewarding your character is the most important aspect of any phase of life. As you do in your single life, so you will do in your marriage.