THINGS WE LEARNED ON BIBLICAL LOVE AND MARRIAGE

Christ is the only one who will keep it happy and healthy for the long run. Love is a conscious decision to be kind, affectionate, understanding and forgiving. You can’t always feel the love, but you can always make the choice to act with love.

Below is a series of things we learned on Biblical Love.

I pray it teaches you things you didn’t know, affirms the things that you knew, and blesses YOU as you rest in Jesus. ♥

Infatuation is a feeling and it’s impossible to stay infatuated for the rest of your life.

Feelings come and go but since it’s a decision, love is forever. In the Bible, love is primarily an action word, not an emotion.

• • • Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude.
    • It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
    • it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
    • Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
    • Love never ends.  1 Corinthians 13:4-8

“A woman loved by her husband grows in beauty.

A man respected by his wife becomes more respectable.”

Love & Respect:

• Husbands are told to love their wives because it’s not always easy to do so.
• Wives are told to honor their husbands because it’s not always easy to do so.
• If we were all doing it naturally, why bring it up?
• Women do better at loving than men. Men do well with respecting.

Men Run on Respect, Women on Love

We all need to be loved and respected. However, when Scripture specifically instruct men to love and women to respect it’s URGENT that men remember their wives need love, and that wives remember their husbands need respect. When in a tough spot, the tendency of the spouse is to give what they themselves need. Wives reach out to husbands with love, when respect is what would help. Husbands back away, thinking this is respect, “giving space” when they should show love. MAJOR FAIL.

Love & Respect Are Both Powerful

The Bible teaches this kind of love and respect is powerful and beautiful. A woman loved by her husband grows in beauty. The same potency is found in a godly woman’s respect: chaste behavior can break a man’s disobedient spirit (1 Peter 3:1–2). Concentrating on their marriages, men and women are to love and respect each other with all their hearts. The results can be astonishing.

“Fill Your Spouse’s Tank in the Way They Need.”

DEAL BREAKERS IN YOUR MARRIAGE

• Never Threaten With Divorce. You’re married for life, so divorce is off the table. Don’t give the devil a foothold by using threats of divorce to get your spouse to do something. In fact, take the word OUT of your vocabulary altogether. Learn to work out your problems without using that word.
• Never Go to Sleep Angry. Work out disagreements on a daily basis cause if you don’t, resentment will begin to fester like a cancer. If you can’t find a solution on your own, get Godly counsel. Couples who are wise know it’s not a sign of weakness to ask for help.
• NEVER “Agree to Disagree.” Marriage is the longest journey and you’re both going opposite directions, you will be in conflict. Either you build your house together or you are tearing it apart. Seek God and godly counsel until you get on the same page.
• Respect and Accept Differences. Any two individuals don’t always see the world in the same way. If your partner thinks or sees things differently from you, do not dishonor or disrespect by judging or talking bad about each other. Would you really want to deal with another you? Thank God for the difference. It makes for a better team.
• Give Each Other the Right to Complain & Be Honest. Without paying a price. Listen to understand the complaint and work to make it right with a good attitude. Watch your body language! Don’t roll your eyes, be defensive or tune out. Don’t shame each other for being honest.
• Be Faithful. You can be unfaithful without being sexual. During frustration or difficulty, beware of entering an emotional fling with someone of the opposite sex. Your problems are to be resolved with your partner, only. Many marriages have been destroyed by one party opening a door that became too difficult to close.
• Build Relationships with Other Believers. Decide what your marriage will look like in five years, and observe the couples you’re spending time with. Divorces run in packs. Seek friends who encourage you to do the right thing, especially during hard times. Stay connected to a Bible-believing church where the Word of God’s is preached on a weekly basis.  
• Make Decisions Together. You’re equal partners, not one dominant and one submissive. When making significant decisions, both have equal input and respect for each other’s opinions.  
• Prioritize Your Marriage Above All Else. Apart from God, your marriage is the most important relationship in your life, even more than children, your job, personal interests or hobbies. Work hard to meet each other’s needs, and refuse to sacrifice your marriage for anything or anyone else.
• Marriage Covenant Designed by God. The vows “for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health” are the vows of your covenant. That means your marriage is based on the decision to love and cherish each other, not on feelings, convenience or comfort.