Lifelong Love | Spiritual Principles That Protect Your Marriage | Session 4
Marriage Retreat 2024 |Lifelong Love
Sunday Morning | Spiritual Principles that Protect Your Marriage
Lifelong Love – In Marriage
Displays God’s Love and Faithfulness to the World
Marriage is God’s favorite illustration to showcase the Gospel and His love for humanity.
The more we discover what a healthy relationship is the more we understand His love for us.
“What has most impacted my marriage is holding onto three spiritual principles.
How I look at marriage has transformed how I act in marriage and
greatly increased my satisfaction in marriage.”
– Gary Thomas
Seek First God’s Kingdom and His Righteousness
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Matthew 6:33
You are made for more than each other.
What is your purpose? The enemy will be after your purpose, because He is after your marriage.
“If I find myself with a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy,
then the probable conclusion is I’m made for another world.”
-C.S. Lewis
When Jesus says to, ‘Seek first His righteousness…’
This will lead me to die to all the things that make me miserable in marriage: Impatience, Unkindness, and Anger.
So I can Grow in: Patience, Kindness and Self Control
Imagine how a marriage can improve if we pour in the ‘Jesus like’ qualities.
When I ‘Seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness’, I will fail at times and need grace, which looks like:
Seek – Fail – Repent – Receive and Abide – Seek – Grow – Love= Soft Heart
Not ‘Seeking first His Kingdom and His Righteousness’ looks like:
Seek – Fail – Blame – Withdraw = Hard Heart
“Don’t worry about falling out of love. Worry about falling out of purpose.
And worry about falling out of repentance.”
– Gary Thomas
Jesus already filled your greatest need to be loved.
In marriage, your greatest need is to learn to love.
“Above all else cloth yourselves in love.”
Colossians 3:14
“Above all maintain constant love for one another because love covers a multitude of sin.”
1 Peter 4:8
“A new commandment I give to you to love one another; as I have loved you, you also must love one another.
By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 13:34-35
Commandment not a Suggestion.
Jesus plan to reach the world is to build a community that loves.
This is plan A on how the gospel will spread through the world not plan B.
Satan knows if we do this, he loses His power in our lives and our family’s lives.
If marriage is the place I become more like Jesus, the challenges and irritations become opportunities
to grow in my ability to love.
What will you put in the gap between reality and expectations? Anger and blame or grace and love?
RealityExpectations
Marriage is Worship.
Meditate on God being as your Father-In-Law.
Somethings we are called to protect.
We are to treat our spouse as a child of God.
How do I want my boys to be loved by my daughters-in-law? That is how I am to love.
How do you want your daughters to be loved by your son-in-laws?
Meditate on God has your Heavenly Father-in-Law.
“Behold how great a love the Father has lavished on us that we would be called His children.”
1 John 3:1
Agape love is a godly love that is not about loving each other because we are lovable or because our spouse loves us; but simply because we are all God’s children.
These are the truths that will help you to get to lifelong love.
We love because He first loved us.
In order to have a life long love we will need to be with Jesus and be filled up with His Love and Truth,
then we will become like Jesus.