So many single men and women out there long to get married but don't know if they're ready for it. I hope to help you with that. Are you ready for the answer? Here it is:

If you're ready for the responsibility.

That's it?

Many articles have been written about preparing for marriage, choosing who to marry, and even how to know if that person is God's will for you. While it's helpful to read all of these and more, nothing and no one can answer the question of readiness except the person who will marry.

You can prepare for marriage in a lot of ways:

• Save up money for the wedding
• Purchase a house
• Buy a car
• Get pre-marriage counseling
• Buy the rings
• Get the whole church to support you in prayer and fasting
• Ask the pastor to preach marriage sermons
• Read marriage books

Yes, there are a whole lot of ways to prepare for marriage. But the real question isn't "how much do you have in the bank?" It also is not "where do we live after the wedding?" It absolutely isn't "do we look good together?"

It's really simple. "Am I willing to take responsibility for marrying this person?" That's what all single men and women longing to marry should ask.

Why is that?

My dear single friends, marriage is not a walk in the park. You can walk in the park literally, but you'll have to do more than that to make your marriage work. With all the wrong teachings and beliefs that so many people, including Christians, have about marriage, it's going to take more than just pre-marriage counseling to make it work.

It's going to take the two of you, the man and the woman both doing their part, to make the marriage work. In fact, even then it's not a dead certainty.  It will also take God to make a Godly marriage work. You can't take God out of the picture.

Some worldly marriages may look OK, but if you want your marriage to be the best that it can be, you'll need to have a marriage relationship according to God's design:

"Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish." (Ephesians 5:24-27)

Men, if you're not willing to love your wives sacrificially like Jesus did, you're going to have a hard time in marriage.

Women, if you're not willing to respect and submit to your husbands the way the church submits to Christ, then you're going to have a hard time in marriage as well.

A Godly responsibility

Friends, marriage is a responsibility to God. You love your spouse because He loves you and you love Him. If you aren't ready for that, then don't ever dare enter into it.