I grew up with Christian friends and family, and I go to a Christian school; this is a blessing, but I am bothered by how often I hear the phrase "when you get married..."

Just yesterday, I talked with one of my closest friends about this.

She said, "Oh, don't worry, God has someone great out there for you."

I'm sure all of us have heard this age-old cliché at some point.

I replied, "Thank you, but I prefer to say 'God has a better plan for me,' because I'm fine if His plan for me doesn't involve a husband."

Confused by the idea of a Christian woman not seeking marriage, she said, "Oh, you don't mean that. You're totally going to get married!"

I then responded, "Maybe someday. My point is that I'm not looking for marriage, and if I find a man I want to marry, then that's great. If I don't, then that's great too."

This conversation couldn't have been better timed because I have been thinking about this topic very much lately.

It is wedding season, after all.

Weddings are beautiful occasions celebrating the union of two people in love, but these celebrations can strike a melancholy note with women in a different season of life. These women are the single ones, looking from the outside in on all of these seemingly blissful marriages. Ah, yes, if only you could be married too, then you would definitely be happy, right?

Wrong. You ought to desert the thought that you need a husband to feel fulfilled and happy.

If I ever mention that I'm not currently seeking marriage, others are typically taken by surprise.

It's not that I'm planning to never marry. At the moment, I'm just not planning for one way or the other, because my only plan is to follow God wherever He leads me. If He's placed a husband in my future, then I will happily be his wife. If He does not have a husband for me, then I will happily serve God as a single woman.

My point is not that I don't want to be married, but that I'm secure enough in who I am in Christ that I'm not wasting my time worrying about if I'll find a husband or not; I'm far too busy trying to become a better disciple of God.

I want to encourage other women to regard themselves in this way too.

I deeply wish young women in the church would stop basing their value on their husbands. Women, you are amazing, and you were amazing before any man said you were.

My prayer is that before all the young women in the church go looking for a husband, they would realize that they are complete in Christ first. I want all these women to be so empowered by the Holy Spirit that finding a husband is no longer at the top of their list of priorities.

Put your focus on being the bride of Christ, rather than the bride of a man.

It is not imperative that every women marries. Some women are designed to have a husband to complement them, and some are not. There is no shame in either. Women everywhere have done amazing things, both with and without a husband.

Esther saved all of the Jewish people from the plot of Haman.

Marie Curie was the first woman to earn a doctorate in Europe, won a Nobel Prize, and led major scientific discoveries.

Queen Elizabeth I introduced the "Elizabethan Age" to England and brought her country from rags to riches.

Joan of Arc helped bring France to freedom from the English, and led these troops to victory at the Battle of New Orleans.

Mother Theresa devoted her life to the sick and poor, and began a religious movement because of it.

The list goes on and on, but I think the point has been made. Whether married or unmarried, women are capable of so much.

This article is not an attempt to deem men worthless, or to bash the idea of marriage. I actually believe marriage is often a beautiful testament to God's love, and—for many—is a joyous blessing.

What I am bashing is the idea that 19-year-old girls need to be be on the search for their husband, and if they haven't found him yet, then they must be flawed.

I am not instructing young women not to get married. I am simply trying to remind them of their worth, whatever their marital status.

The point of this article is not to say marriage is valueless. The point is to declare that a woman's sole purpose is not to find a husband. The purpose of women (and men too) is to bring glory to God, and I want to encourage women to focus on that, rather than on becoming "complete" through marriage.