This week, we've been talking
about our relationships inside of a marriage.
And today I want to talk about
the husband and wife's relationship with the Lord.
Have you ever seen the God triangle?
I'll try to illustrate it with my fingers here.
You've got God on top
and you've got husband and wife on either side.
And the principle is this:
the closer husband and wife get to God,
the closer they will be to each other.
Studies show that the divorce rates for couples
who are into the Word of God together at home and at church
are drastically lower than those,
or the national divorce rate.
Why is that?
Well, it's because when we see God's love for us
and are constantly fed with that,
it empowers us to show love for each other.
1 John 4 says this,
"Dear friends, let us love one another
"for love comes from God.
"Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
"Whoever does not love does not know God
"because God is love.
"This is how God showed His love among us.
"He sent His one only Son into the world
"that we might live through Him.
"This is love.
"Not that we loved God, but that He loved us
"and sent His son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
"Dear friends, since God so loved us,
"we also ought to love one another."
The more we see Christ's love,
the more we're going to want to reflect that love
as husbands and wives inside of the marriage relationship.
Now, some people might think
that this is not a very important relationship
inside of their marriage.
Why do you think that might be?
I think that sometimes couples will say,
"Well, okay, it's not that it's not important,
"but we're just so busy."
But like eating,
not making time for God's word,
could result in death.
If you don't make time for eating, you could die.
The same is true with God's word.
And maybe for some couples, you know,
everything's going pretty well
and so there's no immediate threat to the marriage.
But that's a little like treating a fire in the garage
like it's no big deal.
Well, at least it's in the garage,
it's not in the house, yet.
Now we need to be able to answer this question
and understand the impact of the answer.
Does everyone want your marriage to succeed?
The answer is no.
Satan does not want your marriage to succeed.
And he's doing everything he can to break you up.
But Jesus does want your marriage to succeed.
And He wants the relationship of husband and wife,
and that relationship with Him and His word,
to be one that builds up in the marriage.
So recognizing how important this aspect of your marriage is
that relationship with the Lord,
I've got an assignment for you.
If you're single,
I want you to come up with
a devotional plan of how you're going to be
into the Word of God, and then get together with a group
from your church, who's going to encourage you in your faith.
And if you're a married couple,
I want you to actually sit down
maybe have a glass of wine
and talk about your relationship with the Lord
and how you're going to strengthen that.
That's going to involve having devotions
or maybe reading the Bible together.
It's going to involve going to church together,
and Bible study, it's going to involve praying together.
And always remember, this is not a to-do.
Instead, this is God's gift to you.
When you're in His Word, He gives you gifts.
In fact, He tells you that when you meditate on His word,
you're like a tree planted by streams of water.
You'll yield your fruit in season,
your leaf won't wither.
And whatever you do will prosper.
Let's pray.
Dear Jesus, thank you for loving me.
Fill me with your love through your word
so that your love overflows in all of my relationships.
Especially in my marriage.
In your saving name I pray, Amen.
Today we talked about the importance of
the husband and wife's relationship with the Lord
which means getting into His word together.
How can you and your spouse make a plan
to spend more time together in the word?
Share your ideas below so that we can encourage one another.
And thanks for watching this week.
God's blessings.