“If God call you to marriage, take notice of the helps and comforts of that condition … that you may cheerfully serve God in it, in the expectation of his blessing…. It is a mercy to have a faithful friend, that loveth you entirely, and is as true to you as yourself, to … help you to bear your burdens, and comfort you in your sorrows, and be the daily companion of your lives, and partaker of your joys and sorrows. And it is a mercy to have so near a friend to be a helper to your soul; to join you in prayer and other holy exercises; to watch over you and tell you of your sins and dangers, and to stir up in you the grace of God … and cheerfully accompany you in the ways of holiness.”

--Richard Baxter, The Christian Directory (1673).

APMarriage