Dear Future Wife,

I don’t know you, or maybe I do, but I want you to know that I am praying for you. I’m praying that Christ continues to captivate your heart in such a way that you not only worship Him with your words and in song, but with your life and in the way you serve others. I’m praying that He breaks your heart for what breaks His and that your life in Christ leads others to find life in Christ.

More than that, I am praying that I am constantly being molded by God into the man you need me to be: a man that is quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger, great in kindness and rich in love. I’m praying that my pursuit of Christ leads me to you, and that my pursuit of you leads me to Christ.

I also want you to know that you are lovely, and it hurts my heart to know you have ever been led to believe otherwise. I want you to know that when I call you beautiful, I’m not referring to your appearance. Rather, I’m talking about how easily you love others, your selflessness and how radiant the joy of Christ is within you. The most attractive thing about you is your zealous, unrelenting pursuit of Christ, and not the reflection you see looking back at you.

I promise to continue to pursue you even while we’re together. Many times I have seen boys refuse to be men and refuse to do what it takes to make a relationship work, but I promise to choose you on the good days and the bad.

I promise to not shut you out. I probably will at some point, but just know that it’s hard for me to be open. I’ve been told throughout my life to not be vulnerable, to not show emotion and to "man up," as if men aren’t allowed to do those things.

I promise to never get used to you and to not take you for granted. I’ll appreciate the little things you do for me whatever that may look like. Whether it’s finding a note from you in my lunch or if you saved me the last bite of ice cream. (Side note: we will be having lots of ice cream. It’s biblical)

I promise that I will screw up, so please be patient with me. I am not perfect and you don’t expect me to be. In the same way, I promise to be generous with grace and patience.

I promise to be your best friend. If that means having to sit through some of the TV shows you really like, I will. If it means late nights, spontaneous adventures and surprises, then so be it.

I won’t promise that you will always be right, but I promise to be understanding and to do my best to view things from your perspective.

I promise to spoil you not with material things, but with my time and affection.

I promise to not put you first and I urge you to do the same, because that’s God’s place. We’re in a love triangle with God; the closer we get to God, the closer we get to each other. Because of that, I promise to continually point you to Christ and to love you the way Christ loves the church.

Lastly, I want to thank you. You make me want to be better because you deserve better. I am not the same man I was before, and I am better having known you. You didn’t ask me to change; you inspired me to change.

Love,