INTRODUCTION – We live in new world.
• Social networking has never been easier,
• But we don’t do relationships very well.
• The hardest place for relationships is home.
• Hebrews 13:4 NLT, “Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage.”
• Measure your relationships not on others behavior, but on His behavior towards you.
I. A KEY TO POSSIBILITY; LOVE AND RESPECT
• Ephesians 5:28,31,33, “…husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies...the wife must respect her husband.”
• Love = devotion, admiration, warm attachment
• Respect = to esteem, give preference to
• Marriage takes more than love to survive, it takes skill and wisdom.
• 2 Keys to a Happy Marriage:
1. Behave like good friends.
o Relationships are characterized by respect, affection, and empathy.
2. Handle their conflicts in gentle, positive ways.
• 4 Behaviors That Cause A Downward Spiral
1. Criticism 2. Defensiveness 3. Contempt 4. Stonewalling
II. LOVE AND RESPECT
• When a man is unloving a wife will typically be less respectful to him.
• When a woman is demeaning a man will be unloving.
• We have a crazy cycle.
• We keep doing the same things over and over and expect a different outcome.
• Stop now! Deal with your marriage issues now!
III. RESPECT
• The word Paul uses for love is agape - unconditional love and for respect is unconditional
respect.
• Common thread in marriages that last - love and respect.
• The most corrosive force in marriage was contempt.
CLOSE
• Communication - half of it is the delivery, not the words.
• The manner in which you confront can be life-giving or demeaning.
• Matthew 12:34, “The mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.”
