Checklist: knowing what you want out of a partner

Do you know what you are looking for?  Are you a checklist of what you would hope someone else would want?

A wise woman years ago (a college Sunday School teacher) taught me about how to focus on an "ideal mate" and she had a check list that she was praying for in her future mate.  She had already been married before, so she already knew what kind of characteristics she already didn't want.

She did a few things, she looked at what she really wanted, but she also looked at what God wanted for a marriage and a man of character.  She went to the Bible to look at what kind of characteristics a man of God would have.  She added those to her list.

She kept a diary of the list, and she prayed over it, and she met someone that actually met that list.  I don't know how long it took for the someone to come along, but I know she knew when the list was met, and he proposed, she knew this was a man that God wanted for her.

The Bible spells out specifically in Proverbs 31 what kind of woman we should be for our mates, which I have prayed for several years, and have gleaned a great deal from.  I will write about that at another time.

However, throughout the Bible it says what a man should be.  But focus in on the Book of Ruth, and her Kinsmen Redeemer.  Naomi praised him highly, and noted that he was a man of integrity.  He was a man who did respectable business, people followed his example, he was highly thought of in his community, and he respected women.  The list gets longer, and this was not necessarily my point today, but this is the primary base for a man of Biblical Character and certainly someone that would make an excellent partner.

So, what's my point?

My point is, to develop your own checklist.  What are things you want in your partner, your future partner?  What are personal characteristics you want from the inside out? 

Though you may want to focus on the outside and what your partner physically looks like, you also need to use your head in analyzing their qualities on the inside.  If they aren't what you want on the inside, then why are you dating them?

Get a journal, a notebook, a piece of paper, and put it somewhere you can regularly look at it.

All your experiences, things you have learned, things you value and things you don't value in someone should go into that list. 

Though my list was written years ago, and the list is long gone, I know what I've been praying for these years and I know that a mere mention of having taken a Dave Ramsey class is a huge key for me.  I want someone who understands that there is or should be a limit to spending and what to spend it on, and whom to spend it on.  I particularly don't want to be in debt up to my eyeballs til I'm 100 years old. 

But seriously, if you want to have a better angle on your life and how you are approaching your dating life, get a bit more serious about what you truly want in a life partner, and pray for that.  I would rather have a good hearted man than the sportiest jock, because I know that the man with the inside qualities mean more in the long run.