People should be careful in selecting their friends, but Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church believes that Christians should be even more careful in choosing their life partners.
"Notice it is a choice. God doesn't do this for you. God says you make the choice," he writes on his website. "God leads us, God guides us, and God gives us guidelines. But ultimately, it's your choice."
However, not everybody has the right idea when it comes to love and marriage. A lot of people are fooled by "myths," most popular of which is that there is only one person who is truly right for them.
"That's very romantic, but it's just not true. It's also not biblical. And it's not even logical!" says Warren. "If there were only one right person for everybody in the world, it would only take one person to make a wrong decision and break the chain for everybody else."
"In your life there are multiple people God might say it's okay for you to marry. There are millions that he would absolutely rule out, but there are multiple opportunities that God would say okay to," he adds. "It's your choice. It's your preference."
Another "myth" people buy into is that love alone is the reason why people should get married. "Just because you love someone does not mean you should marry that person," says Warren.
He has actually discouraged several couples from getting married, since they are bringing family issues into their marriage or are struggling with maturity and spiritual issues. Some couples even do not share the same values and goals, and yet profess to "love each other."
"God doesn't tell you who to marry. But He does give you a description of the kind of person that He desires for you to marry. And, if you're married — regardless of who you married — God is at work, even if you can't see it now," he says.
