When I saw the title of Winfree Brisley’s article “Why I Married in My 20s—and Don’t Regret It,” I felt a flash of old angst. I remembered being single in my 30s, when reading such articles made me feel as if I was beyond hope and had somehow missed God’s best.

God’s plan for me was to marry later than most of my Christian peers. I’m so glad that I waited. That’s not because late marriage is better than marrying young. It’s because I didn’t meet the man that God had in store for me until later, and I would not want to be married to anyone else!

Winfree helpfully points out the flaws in many of the arguments against early marriage, such as that marrying young is risky, and that a woman needs freedom to “find herself” before marriage. She concludes:

Research studies pointing to good outcomes for women who marry in their 20s are encouraging. But we have a greater hope than statistics. The One who created and formed us, who knows us and the plans he has for us, also knows when the time is right for us to marry.

If, in his providence, God had not brought a godly man into my life who wanted to marry me, I hope I would have continued to make the most of the blessings of singleness that Paul expounds in 1 Corinthians 7 for the rest of my life.

Marrying young, marrying late, or not marrying at all are all valid options for a Christian! Let’s seek to avoid exalting one godly path over another.