The Priority And Protocol Of Love In Marriage Series

SUMITTING YOURSELVES ONE TO ANOTHER (pt 2)

"The Priority and Protocol of Love and Marriage"

INTRO – One of the obstacles to the Christian marriage is misplaced and displaced priorities. The Word of God gives the outline and the guideline of how to keep everything in its proper place and our relationship with our spouse in proper perspective.

TEXT -Matthew 22:37-39

37Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38This is the first and great commandment.

39And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

1. Love God

Matthew 22:37-38

37Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38This is the first and great commandment.

Agape – undying, unchanging, unconditional love. The love of God is described in 1 Corinthians 13. After we recognize and receive the agape love of God we are then able to reflect and reciprocate that same love. We are able to love God the way He loves us. The love the Father has for us caused Him to sacrifice His Son for us. The love Jesus has for us causes Him to leave the 99 to go after the one that is lost. God puts us first. In order to love Him like He loves us, we must make him our highest priority. We must put Jesus Christ first in all things.

Colossians 1:17-18

17And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

18And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

Jesus is to be the center and circumference, the base and the boundary, the balance and the beauty, the sum and the substance of our life. We are to seek Him first, which means we are to seek Him about all things, for all things and in all things. The moment we stop seeking Jesus first to seek something second, then that which was second becomes first.

Matthew 6:33

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

First seek to please Him; first seek to fellowship with Him; first seek to learn of Him; first seek to love Him and everything else is an outflow and an overflow of our love for God. The way we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness as we endeavor to do all we can do and be all we can be is by always asking ourselves the question, “How can God be glorified in this?” I can love Him because He first loved me. In addition to loving God because He first loved me, I can love me because He first loved me.

2. Love yourself –

Matthew 22:37-39

37Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38This is the first and great commandment.

39And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

John 3:16 say that God so loved the world that He gave and forgave. Love is for giving and forgiving. As we learn the love of God and learn to love like God, we learn to love what He loves and like what He likes. God loves me! Also, God likes me. I must learn to like me and to love me so I can learn to forgive me. Developing a godly love for myself will enable me to love someone else. I cannot love anyone else if I don’t first learn to love myself.

3. Love you spouse

Ephesians 5 gives us a description of the difference between the expression of love needed by a husband from his wife and by a wife from her husband. There is a revelation of the difference between how the wife submits herself to the husband and how the husband submits himself to the wife. It’s the revelation of the difference between leadership and management. To lead is to guide on a way especially by going in advance; to direct on a course or in a direction; or to serve as a channel for. The husband is to be the leader of the home and the wife is to be the manager.

Ephesians 5:25-30

25Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

26That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

27That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.