Rev. 2:4-5-Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.
A man came to his pastor and said, “I am going to get a divorce, there is no feeling left in my marriage.” The pastor says to the husband, “The Bible says you’re to love your wife as Christ loved the church.” He says, “Preacher, you don’t understand, we are like strangers living in the same house!” The pastor says, “The Bible says, you’re supposed to love your neighbor as you love yourself. Can you at least love her as you would love a neighbor?” The husband says, “No. The true is, there have been to many things said, to many things done to one another, the fact is, I hate her.” The pastor says, “Well start here then! The Bible says, Love your enemies.”
Jesus gives some steps to renewing our first love, they are not only good for restoring our love for Him but great steps in renewing our love for our spouse!
1-Remember Therefore From Where You Have Fallen-Get the old wedding album out, look thru the pictures.
Look thru vacations pictures, pictures when the children were little.
Reminisce about day trips you have taken together, romantic dinners, or get a ways.
Take time to remember how you felt about your spouse and how your spouse made you feel, before car payments, job issues, house payments, maybe even before kids!
Because all those things, if we allow it can stifle a marriage.
That is why, we need to take time to reminisce about what attracted us to our spouse!
It is so easy to point out the faults of our spouse, and not remember all the good points of our spouse.
A couple married for 15 years began having more than usual disagreements. They wanted to make their marriage work and agreed on an idea the wife had. For one month they planned to drop a slip in a "Fault" box. The boxes would provide a place to let the other know about daily irritations. The wife was diligent in her efforts and approach: "leaving the jelly top off the jar," "wet towels on the shower floor," "dirty socks not in hamper," on and on until the end of the month. After dinner, at the end of the month, they exchanged boxes. The husband reflected on what he had done wrong. Then the wife opened her box and began reading. They were all the same, the message on each slip was, "I love you!"
Brian had asked Dave to help him out with cutting his rather large garden hedge after work, so Dave went straight over to Brian's home. When they got to the front door, Brian went straight up to his wife, gave her a big hug and told her how beautiful she was and how much he had missed her at work. When it was time for supper, he complimented his wife on her excellent cooking, kissed her and told her how much he loved her.
Once they were cutting the hedge, Dave told Brian that he was surprised that he fussed so much over his wife. Brian said that he' d started this about six months ago, it had revived their marriage, and things couldn't be better. Dave thought he'd give it a go.
When he got home, he gave his wife a massive hug, kissed her and told her that he loved her. His wife burst into tears. Dave was confused and asked why she was crying. She said, 'This is the worst day of my life. First, little Joey fell off his bike and twisted his ankle. Then, the washing machine broke and flooded the basement. And now, you come home drunk!'
We don’t want shock our spouse!
2-Repent-Maybe a good way to start of the conversation is….“I haven’t told you lately, that I love you!”
“I haven’t told you lately, that you’re a good provider!”
“I haven’t told you lately, what a good parent you are!”
“I haven’t told you lately, how happy I am with you!”
“I haven’t told you lately, how proud I am of you!”
“I haven’t told you lately, that I can’t think of my world without you in it!”
“I haven’t told you lately, but I respect the person you are and the person you want to be!”
“I haven’t told you lately, but I need you!”
3-Do The First Works-Date your mate!
Have date nights with your spouse!
Get dressed up, go to a movie, a restaurant, shopping, walk in the park, or at the mall, drive in the country, or turn off the T.V. and the cell phones, and turn on some George Jones, or Conway Twitty, or Marvin Gaye, Barry White and hold each other close, and move to the rhythm and let the sparks fly.
Remember if you don’t date you mate, you might have a court date with your mate!
D-I-V-O-R-C-E
Do you remember, when you first dating, you couldn’t wait to hold hands, to kiss, to show some kind of affection!
I will never forget when Tina and I was dating, I was so happy when I read that part in the bible….About laying on of hands, because we couldn’t keep our hands off one another!! LOL
To many married couples, don’t hold hands, or kiss, or be intimate, and I know we have the excuse of we are so busy, and after working all day, we are just so tired!
If you have to, think of it this way, marriage is like a job, you have to work at it, and if you don’t, you will be laid off and replaced!!
