Being a husband is a wonderful thing. Not only do we husbands get the privilege to lavish our love on a God-given wife, we are also given the opportunity to know God in a very different way compared to when we were single.

Knowing this, I would like to encourage all young husbands out there to strive for three things. When we were single, we pursued growth with the help of God and some precious people in our lives, like our brothers in the faith. Now that we're married, we have our wives to go with us as we grow.

I invite you to take the challenge to strive for these three things as a married man.

1) Holiness in marriage

Speaking to the Corinthian believers, Paul said that while single men care only about "the things of the Lord," married men care about the things of the world, or simply "how he may please his wife" (see 1 Corinthians 7:32-33). It's not sin to think of our wives' welfare, but it does help us to realize that as married men we will really have to think of our respective wives – not just our "calling" or dream.

In light of this, we must strive to have a holy marriage. Because being "holy" means being "set apart" for God, we must then strive to make our marriages "set apart" for the Lord's purposes.

Young men, we are called to lead our marriages into the things of God. Consider Priscilla and Aquila, the most prominent couple of faith in the New Testament (see Acts 18:2-3). They served the Lord together as a married couple, and I believe it took an agreement between the two of them to do that. Let's strive to encourage our wives to serve God as much as we do ourselves.

2) Purity in desires

The Lord Jesus gave us such a very high standard of purity, so much so that even just a little lustful glance at another woman means were already committing adultery with that woman – and in doing so we sin and become unfaithful both towards God and our wives (see Matthew 5:27-28).

Knowing this, we must make it a point to be pure and holy in all our desires and dealings with others. Being married doesn't mean being invincible against the lures of sin with the opposite sex. Let us be vigilant to guard our hearts, minds, and eyes. (see Proverbs 4:23)

3) Integrity in pursuits

We are also told to let our yes be yes and our no be no (see Matthew 5:37). We must strive to fulfill the vows we have made at the marriage altar, because if we don't fulfill them we get three strikes: We fail to fulfill our promise to God with regard to our spouse; we fail to fulfill our promise to our wives; and we fail to let our yes be yes, which is a general command.

Since we have chosen to marry, then we must prioritize our marriage, and make decisions in light of our standing in life as married men. We are first children of God, and a husband next. Let us pursue integrity at all times.