I came across this on X:
Most Christians treat marriage like a PhD program.
Something you work toward for a decade. Something you earn after you’ve “figured yourself out.”
Meanwhile, your grandfather got married at 19. Had three kids by 25. Built a house with his hands. Died surrounded by grandchildren who knew his stories.
We tell young men to wait.
Wait until you’re established.
Wait until you’re mature.
Wait until you’re ready.
But here’s what nobody admits:
Marriage doesn’t require maturity. Marriage *produces* maturity.
A 20-year-old with a wife and a baby on the way grows up faster than a 30-year-old with a PlayStation and a roommate.
Responsibility is the cure for immaturity. Not the reward for overcoming it.
We’ve created an impossible timeline:
Stay celibate through your entire twenties — the decade your body was literally designed to create life. Build a career first. Travel. Find yourself.
Then at 32, panicked and behind, scramble to find a spouse before your fertility window closes.
This is not wisdom. This is cultural malpractice dressed up as prudence.
The ultimate privilege you can give your children is not money.
It’s presence.
Married parents.
Mom home with the kids.
Dad working from the property or running his own operation.
Extended family within driving distance.
Church every Sunday.
No screens raising them while you’re at the office.
That’s not a fantasy. That’s what every generation before us considered *normal*.
We made it strange.
We called it “privileged” because we forgot it was possible.
Prepare a home.
Win a wife.
Have children.
Build a legacy.
The order hasn’t changed in 4,000 years.
We just stopped teaching it…
**Me: I'm so glad that I married at 20 years old and we grew and matured together. I'm also glad I didn't buy into the lie of waiting till you can afford children - in the words Dave Ramsey paraphrasing: Children aren't a financial decision! Just obey the Word of God by getting married and bearing children and learn to be content in all circumstances.
