"The List" (another long devotional-ish lecture from mE)

I know of several girls who've made lists of 'qualifications', hopes, and dreams for/about their future husband. I kinda sorta tried once, but I wasn't quite sure if it would quite work for me. I knew it was a good idea and I've heard many godly men and women encouraging such a list (or at least thinking about it) But (and this very well may not be a weakness for most of you) I was kinda concerned about setting expectations (I've had somewhat of a history with those... =P ). An honest question (meaning, not rhetorical. ;) )- should some young man have to meet fifty bullet points before being considered 'worthy'? So I started wondering... what qualities are TRULY important VS. preferences (and I've seen a lot of those on these lists before)?? What DOES God have to say? What SHOULD be on my list? I want to share with you three (out of MANY) passages of scripture that I think cover the matter quite well. (there are so many more, but these are three basic ones).

Firstly, tho', let me add in one verse, Mark 12:30...
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” That is certainly the most important quality a man can possess. But, moving on...

Psalm 1:1-3
Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.

But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.

Many of you have probably heard that in reference to this, as with the next one:

Galatians 5:22, 23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Now, I've recently been doing a study on 1 Corinthians 13. A fairly well-known passage, but if you delve into verses 4 thru 7 and try LIVING that way... lemme be the first to tell you it's not exactly EASY- especially under provocation to bitterness. But I digress. Verses 4 thru 7 are also an EXCELLENT (in my opinion) list of qualifications for the man you will one day spend forever with.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

I don't know about you guys, but I'm gonna be on the lookout for a man like THAT (yes, yes... I know there's only one man in history who nailed all those qualities down... but I'm not looking for perfect. I'm looking for humble. ;) )

Anyways... sorry for yet ANOTHER "lecture". =P I really don't have the time to blog (or read others' blogs) but it was an interesting thought to me and I wanted to share it with anyone who reads this... since I don't have much else to say on here and, as previously stated, certainly not enough time to blog consistently... =P

~mE