Making Our Marriages Great Series

Title: Making Our Marriages Great

Text: Multi-texted Topical

1. Make A Commitment:

a. “Till death do us part” in our country has become;

1. “Till I get angry or hurt.”

i. I read of a father with great wisdom. His daughter called him from her new home after a fight with her newlywed husband crying. She said, “Daddy I want to come home.” His reply? “You are home.”

2. “Till I get tired of you.”

i. In our society of looking out for number one, we see the fruits of that.

1. Selfishness

2. Greed

3. Pride

3. “Till I find someone else.”

i. A WORD OF WARNING Be very careful who you date for in these times of selfishness it takes two to make a marriage, but only one to break it up.

4. And any other excuse to get out of the relationship.

b. From the beginning of time God set forth the institution of marriage And he set forth this relationship as one of commitment.

1. (Genesis 2:20-25 NCV) "The man gave names to all the tame animals, to the birds in the sky, and to all the wild animals. But Adam did not find a helper that was right for him. {21} So the LORD God caused the man to sleep very deeply, and while he was asleep, God removed one of the man’s ribs. Then God closed up the man’s skin at the place where he took the rib. {22} The LORD God used the rib from the man to make a woman, and then he brought the woman to the man. {23} And the man said, "Now, this is someone whose bones came from my bones, whose body came from my body. I will call her ’woman,’ because she was taken out of man." {24} So a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one body. {25} The man and his wife were naked, but they were not ashamed."

2. One man one woman, one body, for life!

c. As if God’s sanction of marriage were not enough reason to be committed, listen to these stats.

1. The Case for Marriage In October 2000, two researchers appeared on Good Morning America to promote their book, “The Case For Marriage”

i. Married people have higher incomes than single people almost to the degree that college graduates exceed high school graduates in income.

ii. Greater sexual satisfaction comes from security and opportunity that marriage affords.

iii. The success of our marriage brings satisfaction.

1. The researchers said that in a group of individuals reported dissatisfaction with their marriage. When they remained in the marriage for five years, 86% of them then reported satisfaction with their marriage.

iv. In other words, they found ways to solve their problems.

2. Commitment lets us work through problems. Long term commitment to marriage allows us to face and work through the problems in marriage.

i. Marriage is a marathon not a sprint!

ii. Don’t just commit to “stay in a marriage” making marriage all that it can be!

Transition: Not only do we make marriage a commitment, we...

2. Make Marriage A Priority: Someone said, “Marriage is like twirling a baton, turning hand springs or eating with chopsticks. It looks easy until you try it.” It takes making it a priority!

a. The only thing to put in front of your relationship with your spouse is the one with God! And I suggest that if your both are seeking God, then your relationship will only get stronger and closer.

b. Your marriage is to come first. Here are some things that take a back seat to your marriage.

1. Your parents: God said to leave mother and father and cleave unto your wife, and I might ad to weave that relationship.

2. Your children: You might say, “Wait a minute, my children are first in my life. Loving your children is good and of course, important and right, , but the greatest thing you can do for your children is to love your spouse. Kids watch and react to the love you have for one another. They learn how to love their mates one day!

3. Your friends: Godly friendships are awesome, important, needed, but they have ruined many marriages because of a miss match in priority.

4. Your church: The church of God is extremely important and necessary to your walk with Him. Walk it together as a married couple.

5. Your job: The Bible says that “if a man does not work he ought not eat.” In our country people make having stuff a mark of happiness in our marriages. It is a fight to keep up with the times and the Jones’s. Stop what you are doing and look at how it is affecting your marriage. Better to live in a rented house with a happy family than to be in a mansion where you don’t know one another.