Speaker: Ben Sigman
Theme: What Has Got To Happen for a Great Marriage to Work
Weekend Music links on iTunes: Salvation is Here - Hillsong, All to You - Lincoln Brewster, Happy Day - Tim Hughes, You'll Come - Hillsong
Read: Matthew 19:4-6; Revelation 2:4-5
Think: In the final point on Sunday Pastor Ben shared how essential commitment is to a marriage relationship. When we were married many of us said vows where we promised to “love honor and cherish till death do us part”. Even so the current divorce rate in America for first marriages stands at 41% and the divorce rate for second marriages is even higher at 60%.
Commitment to a spouse means standing together in the good times and in bad. It may even mean having the courage to seek help when times are not so good.
The video testimony that was shown this week was absolutely amazing. I love to hear stories of how GOD can do anything, even in marriages that seem to have no hope. Here was a couple that would seem to have no future and yet they chose with God’s help to stick it out. Only in doing so were they able to experience the great beauty that was on the other side of the darkness their relationship was in. What an amazing testimony of God’s grace they have become!
There will be times when loving each other comes easy but there will also be times when you maybe don’t like each other very much at the moment. Pastor Ben talked about finding something good in your spouse even during those difficult times.
Some of the best advice I’ve ever read on love is found in Revelation 2:4-5. The context of this passage is about Christians whose love has grown cold towards God. I believe this biblical advice on renewing love also applies to marital love. Listen to what it says,
“But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!”
How many married couples have spoken similar words?
“Look how far you have fallen from your first love! Turn back to me again and work as you did at first.”
When it feels like the fire of love has maybe dimmed. Remember the things you did at first to capture each other’s heart and harness that God given drive within each of you by setting personal goals for yourselves to invest in each other.
Do: I think back to the days when my wife and I were first married. I remember having to make the transition from thinking only about me and my needs to being concerned more about her needs. I am still far from perfect but hopefully getting better. Here is a good quote:
A man who apologizes and changes himself is a man who leads. A man who leads in a protective way is a man a wife respects because she feels loved, safe and nurtured. When she feels that way, she can become the woman and wife God meant her to be...
Spend some time in personal reflection with the thought of shifting from “What do I want” to “What does he/she need”.
Spend some time talking with your spouse. When does he/she feel most loved?
Pray: Dear Heavenly Father, help us to be transparent and continue to build our marriage and honor the commitment we made together. In Jesus name I pray, amen.
The eDevotional is written each week by a team of volunteers from Timberlake Church.
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