rick warrens daily hope new banner may 2022

Choose Your Partner Carefully
By Rick Warren

“The righteous choose their friends carefully.” Proverbs 12:26 (NIV)

If you’re supposed to choose your friends carefully, you should be even more careful about choosing your life partner. And notice that you do get to choose. God leads, guides, and gives you guidelines. But ultimately, who you marry—and whether you marry—is your choice.

However, many people believe the myth that there is only one right person for them. 

That’s romantic, but it’s just not true. It’s not biblical, and it’s not even logical! If there were only one right person for each person in the world, one person making a wrong decision would break the chain for everybody else. 

Let’s say I’m supposed to marry a woman named Susan. Instead, I marry Kay. So then, Susan might marry somebody else, who was supposed to marry somebody else, who was supposed to marry another person! Do you see how the apple cart is upset for everyone on the entire planet?

There are many people God would want you not to marry. But there likely are quite a few other options that could fall within his will for your life. And in those cases, it’s your choice. You can follow your preference.

There’s another myth that many people believe: Love alone is reason enough to marry. 

I frequently talk with people who are planning to get married. And sometimes I look at them and think, “There’s no way.” The family background, spiritual foundation, or personalities aren’t right. They don’t have the same amount of energy or ambition. They don’t even have the same values and goals. But they “love each other.”

Loving someone does not mean you should marry that person. 

God may not tell you who to marry. But he does give you principles that will help you make a wise decision. In tomorrow’s Daily Hope devotional, we’ll go over a list of traits to look for in potential partners.

But first and foremost, if you’re a believer, it’s foundational that you marry another believer so that you have a spiritual unity and a shared life purpose.

There are few gifts in life that are better than a good spouse. Relying on God’s guidance can help you make a wise decision.

PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick

For more Daily Hope with Rick Warren, please visit pastorrick.com!


the lifes healing choices scripture box daily hope offer

Let God’s Word Encourage You through Every High and Low

The Life’s Healing Choices Scripture Box and 52 Scripture Cards offer inspiring biblical truth to uplift you and help you trust in God’s promises through every high and low.

A perfect tool to deepen your faith, these specially selected Scripture Cards will fill your day with God’s truth, one uplifting verse at a time.

The Scripture Box and Scripture Cards are our thanks for your gift below to help share the hope of Jesus Christ with people around the world—so request yours when you give today.

Thank you for your partnership!

*The USA IRS code permits you to deduct the amount of your financial gift to Daily Hope that exceeds the fair market value of materials you received from Daily Hope.

This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

You can listen to Rick Warren on OnePlace.com.