Three Foundations for a Thriving Marriage

Well, in last month's sermon on the topic of marriage, I spoke about the effects of sin on marriage.

We talked about how God made marriage good, a special relationship between a man and a woman.

But then we heard about how the fall of man away from God left us bent towards selfishness and lust and pride and hardness of heart.

And how these things very quickly lead to conflict and broken relationships and the spoiling of marriage.

These things lead to, we talked about attempts to get the goodness of marriage in some other way.

And those attempts always fail and lead to ruin.

But last month I also talked about how the gospel of Jesus Christ is just what we need.

It's the remedy to sin. It's the solution to pride.

It's what we need to soften our hard hearts.

In Jesus we find freedom from both the penalty of sin and the power of sin.

We receive the Spirit of God to live in us.

And He empowers us to turn back to God's good design for marriage and sexuality.

God's Spirit enables us to walk in purity and holiness and true love.

And from there marriage can again, so long as both parties are walking humbly with Jesus,

be experienced as the good and joyful gift that God intended.

Wounds can heal as we forgive one another, just as Christ forgave us.

And this faith that we have in Jesus, it leads us to a new attitude, a new heart, a new life.

A life characterized by forgiveness and humility toward our spouses.

Of course it doesn't mean that conflict will never happen in a marriage of two Christian people.

But it means that we have what we need from God to resolve those conflicts when they happen.

And even to love without expecting anything in return.

And that makes all the difference.

Well this all leads us to our focus for this morning.

What are the foundations for a good marriage?

What are the essentials for a healthy, thriving, and happy marriage in a fallen and broken world?

And there's lots of things that we could talk about here.

There's lots of right answers to this question.

Good answers to this question.

But this morning I'm just going to focus on three.

Three foundations for a good, healthy, thriving, happy marriage in a fallen and broken world.

Foundation number one is a passionate and persevering love for God.

Having a passionate and persevering love for God makes all the difference in the world in a marriage.

We've already said that marriage is made by God and that it's a gift of God.

And since it's a gift from God, marriage is not the most important relationship in life.

Our relationship with the God who gave it to us is the most important relationship in life.

We're just about a month away from Christmas.

That time of year when many exchange gifts.

Probably most of us grew up loving Christmas.

Especially that moment when we got to unwrap the presents.

The excitement of not knowing what our parents had wrapped up for us.

Maybe a new toy under the tree was almost too much to bear.

5 a.m. couldn't come soon enough.

But all these years later as adults, do we remember each and every present we received?

From each and every person each year?

No.

But we remember the love of the people who gave them to us.

Which was far greater.

A thoughtful gift that met a deep need.

A costly gift.

Not because it was expensive.

But because the person who gave it had very little at the time.

Or perhaps a handmade gift.

Something that couldn't be bought in the store.

But you knew that a loved one had spent hours making it just the way it was for you.

These gifts are tokens of the love of a person.

But far greater than the gift is the giver of the gift.

This is how it is with marriage.

We have it wrong if, and we're missing it, if we're looking for the great companion of our souls here on earth.

In a relationship.

Even in a marriage.

Marriage is just a token.

It's just a pointer to the great relationship.

The ultimate marriage.

That we were all made for.

And that's our relationship with God.

And so, if I had to give a married person or a person seeking marriage.

One scripture passage in the whole Bible.

I would choose this one.

Matthew 22.

34 to 40.

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees.

The Pharisees got together.

One of them, an expert in the law, tested Jesus with this question.

Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?

Jesus replied,

Love the Lord your God with all your heart.

And with all your soul.

And with all your mind.

This is the first and greatest commandment.

And the second is like it.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.

This might seem a strange scripture to go to when looking for wisdom about marriage.

But what could make for a better marriage than a strong and vibrant relationship with the God who made marriage?

What could make for a better marriage than deeply knowing and loving the God who is love?

The God whose kindness and patience and forgiveness are so powerful and beautiful.

And if we love God with all our hearts, totally and passionately,

then our earthly relationships find their proper places in our lives.

We're the best that we can be towards others.

Towards the girlfriend, the boyfriend, the fiance, or the spouse.

Nothing makes a good, healthy, thriving, happy marriage in a fallen world more

than loving God with all your heart.

And with all your soul.

And with all your mind.

How does this work?

How do we apply this?

Well, if you want to have the best marriage you can,

whether you are not yet married, dating, engaged, or married for a long time,

if you want to have the best marriage you can,

make it your life to love the Lord with all your heart.

As deeply as you can.

This changes you so deeply and profoundly

that we can't even begin to measure the good effect that it will have on your marriage relationship

now and into the future.

This brings us to a second foundation for a good, healthy, thriving, happy marriage in a fallen world.

If you are not yet married,

but looking for a lifelong companion,

a husband or wife,

look for the person who loves God with all their heart.

Look for the person who loves Jesus

even more than you.

More than anyone around you.

What they look like,

what they're interested in,

what they do for career or work,

all of that is secondary.

Do they love God

with all their heart

and with all their soul

and with all their mind?

It says this in Proverbs 31,

a wife of noble character

who can find.

She is worth

far more

than rubies.

Solomon then goes on

to list out

all the

things that she does

which show

her noble character

and then at the end of the list,

towards the end of the list,

he says this,

charm is deceptive

and beauty

is fleeting.

It flies away.

But a woman

who fears the Lord

is to be praised.

That's what to look for

in a spouse.

a man or woman

who fears the Lord.

A man or woman

of noble character.

A man or woman

who loves God

with all their heart.

With these things alone,

you can save yourself

a world

of relational

heartache

and pain.

Make it your life

to love God

passionately

with everything you've got.

and only say

I do

or ask

someone to marry you.

Someone who has

that same heart

for the Lord.

That same love

for the Lord.

That same fear

of God.

This will make

all the difference

in your life.

This makes all the difference

in marriage.

It makes all the difference

in a family.

because God

is love.

He is life.

He's everything.

And if we walk

continually with Him

loving Him

with all we've got

everything is affected

for the best.

And so that's

foundation one.

Love the Lord your God

with all your heart.

The first key

to a thriving marriage.

And foundation two.

If you're not yet married

say I do

only

to someone

who shares

that love for God.

And I want to expand

on this a little

and I know that

many of you here

are already married

and have made that choice.

And these words

maybe

had envisioned

a few more people

who are unmarried

here in the audience today

but

maybe there's some people

you know

who you can share

this wisdom with

who are unmarried

or who are thinking

about marriage.

It's wise

to look for the person

who loves God

the most

but maybe you might wonder

what if that person

is already taken?

What if there's no one

my age around me

who loves God

like that?

Or who shares

my faith

like that?

And there can be

this powerful temptation

to settle for less.

To go for a person

who loves you

but who doesn't

love Jesus.

Never settle for less

when it comes to choosing

who you will marry.

Listen to these words

of wisdom

from the Apostle Paul

as he wrote to the church

in Corinth.

Do not be yoked together

with unbelievers.

For what do righteousness

and wickedness

have in common?

Or what fellowship

can light

have with darkness?

What harmony

is there between

Christ and Belial?

Or what does a believer

have in common

with an unbeliever?

What agreement

is there

between the temple

of God

and idols?

For we are the temple

of the living God.

As God has said

I will live with them

and walk among them

and I will be their God

and they will be

my people.

Therefore

come out from them

and be separate

says the Lord.

Now Paul's main

application here

is not marriage.

This is actually

about compromise.

It's about

welcoming into the church

as brothers and sisters

those

who worship

idols

and false gods.

And Paul's saying

don't do that.

Don't be joined together

with unbelieving

idol

worshiping people.

Come out from them

and be separate

from them.

You belong to God

now.

You belong to Christ.

You can't have

a true union

and a deep fellowship

with those

who don't share

in that faith

in Christ.

It's like trying

to mix

light

and darkness

together.

it's like

trying to say

that Christ

Jesus

our king

can live

in harmony

with Belial.

That's another

name for the devil.

Paul's main

application here

is not marriage

but the principle

that he gives

fits perfectly

with marriage.

If you shouldn't

invite unbelievers

who have a different

religion

to join

the church

as members

and to be part

of the church

family

then you shouldn't

invite an unbeliever

who has a different

religion than you

to be part of

your family

and to

join with you

in marriage.

Do not be

yoked together

with unbelievers

says the Lord.

And that word

yoked

it comes from

the way they used

to do things

back in ancient

times.

They used

oxen

or donkeys

to plow

and to

pull carts

and other

things

and the

yoke

is that

harness

that goes

between

the two

animals

and keeps

them together

so that they

can pull

or work

in unison.

And the

term that

Paul uses

here is

actually

difficult to

translate into

English.

It means

to yoke

together two

different species

of animal

like a donkey

and an ox

at the same

time.

One translation

says do not

be mismatched

with unbelievers

or do not

be unevenly

yoked

or unequally

yoked.

What do you

think would

happen if you

try to drive

a wagon

pulled by

an ox

and a donkey?

It's going

to be nothing

but frustration

or chaos.

They're two

different animals.

They have

different sizes.

They have

different strides.

They have

different temperaments.

The ox

is stronger.

If he

pulls harder

than the donkey

well the wagon

is going to

go to one

side.

And donkeys

are known to

be stubborn

and they

might just

drag their

feet.

You're not

going to get

where you

want to go.

It just

won't work.

That's the

picture that

Paul is

trying to

give us

here.

That's what

happens when

believers join

themselves to

unbelievers.

And this has

played itself

out time and

time again in

dating relationships

and marriages.

If you don't

have the same

faith in Jesus,

the same

heart for

Jesus,

the same

love for

God,

it's going

to be a

frustrating or

chaotic

disaster.

There's going

to be a lot

of conflict.

If you're a

believer and

they're not,

how's this

going to

work?

One of you

will be

pulling one

way towards

God and

the other

will be

pulling the

other way

away from

God.

And it

affects every

aspect of a

marriage and

life, whether

or not you do

family devotions

together and

pray together,

whether or not

you all go to

church.

The kids

will grow up

getting mixed

messages from

mom and dad.

One of them

says, this is

really important,

you need to

do this, we

need to believe

in Jesus, and

the other says,

yeah, kind of,

but not really.

It affects the

priorities of the

marriage and the

family, how you

spend your time as

a family, your

finances, and the

list goes on.

A boyfriend or

girlfriend might

say, they don't

care what you

believe, they'll

go along with

you.

You can have

faith and live

for God however

you want, I'll

just go along

with you.

But if Christ

doesn't live in

their heart, then

it's like trying to

have fellowship,

light having

fellowship with

darkness.

That's what Paul

says, it's like

two different types

of animals pulling

in opposite

directions, it

won't work.

many marriages

blow apart

because of this.

Sometimes the

unbelieving spouse

will go along

with the believing

spouse for a

while.

Sometimes the

believer will

give up the

fight and

compromise even

more, which has

a devastating

effect on the

soul, and on

the marriage, and

on the children.

And so if you're

not yet married,

do not be

yoked together.

with an

unbeliever.

Paul gives no

middle ground

here.

He says you're

either a believer

or you're not.

You're an

unbeliever.

You're either a

follower of Christ

or a follower of

the devil, Belial.

There's only two

camps.

The devil is the

default, though the

world doesn't

realize it.

There's no

middle ground.

Do not be

yoked.

Do not be

joined or

mated or

mismatched with

an unbeliever

in dating or

in marriage.

It's far

better to stay

single than

to be stuck

together with

someone whose

heart cannot

be one with

yours in

Christ.

So these are

two things,

two foundations

for a good,

solid,

thriving,

happy marriage

in a fallen

world.

Love God with

all your heart,

heart, with

all your soul

and with all

your mind,

and only say

I do to

someone who

loves God

like that

too.

And then the

last one for

today, a

third foundation.

Marriage was

designed by God

to be a

permanent

covenant

union.

A

permanent

covenant

union.

union.

Why do a

man and

woman exchange

vows at a

wedding?

Probably many

people today think

it's just

tradition.

Something that

you say to

show the other

person that

you're serious

and that you

really mean it

and that this

is a special

relationship that

you hope will

last.

Sadly, many

engaged couples

give little

thought to their

marriage vows.

many of them

just show up

at the wedding

and they're so

focused on the

dress and the

decorations and

the flowers,

everything that's

going on.

And then they

have that moment

at the front with

the officiating

pastor where they

repeat after him,

hopefully I don't

mess up my words.

And a year later,

do they even

remember what they

promised?

What they vowed

to the other

person?

We love those

words for

better or for

worse, for

richer or for

poorer, in

sickness and

in health.

But then how

many even

stop to think

seriously over

what they mean?

You are

promising love

and loyalty no

matter the

circumstance and

no matter the

outcome.

If men and

women really

understood their

vows and took

them seriously,

would we even

consider divorce

divorce as an

option?

Wouldn't we

seek every help

from God and

man to work

through the

conflict and

fix what's

become broken

in a marriage?

I think our

culture is losing

this understanding

of marriage as a

permanent covenant

union.

what does

permanent mean?

What does

till death do

us part

mean?

This is the

kind of

relationship

marriage was

made to be.

And the

covenant

nature of it

isn't just

tradition, it

comes from the

Bible.

It comes from

God.

There's lots of

passages that talk

about it, or I

should say several,

where we could

see it, but we're

just going to

look at one

quickly this

morning.

From the last

Old Testament

prophet, the

book of

Malachi.

Malachi chapter

Malachi 2:10

2 verse 10, I'll

read it and then

we'll pull a couple

things out of it.

This is Malachi

speaking.

He says to the

people of Israel,

do we not all

have one father?

Did not one

God create us?

Why do we

profane the

covenant of our

ancestors by

being unfaithful

to one another?

Judah has been

unfaithful.

A detestable

thing has been

committed in

Israel and in

Jerusalem.

Judah has

desecrated the

sanctuary the

Lord loves by

marrying women

who worship a

foreign God.

As for the

man who does

this, whoever

he may be, may

the Lord remove

him from the

tents of Jacob,

even though he

brings an offering

to the Lord

Almighty.

Another thing

you do, you

flood the Lord's

altar with tears.

You weep and

wail because he

no longer looks

with favor on

your offerings or

accepts them with

pleasure from your

hands.

Godly, you

ask, why?

It is because the

Lord is witness

between you and

the wife of your

youth.

You have been

unfaithful to her,

though she is

your partner, the

wife of your

marriage covenant.

Has not the one

God made you?

You belong to him

in body and

spirit.

And what does

the one God

seek?

Godly offspring.

So be on your

guard and do not

be unfaithful to

the wife of your

youth.

The man who

hates and divorces

his wife, says

the Lord, the

God of Israel, does

violence to the

one he should

protect, says the

Lord Almighty.

So be on your

guard and do not

be unfaithful.

Now this is a

difficult place in

the Bible to just

jump in and start

reading.

You might be

wondering what's

going on here,

what God is

talking about.

There's been this

long history of

relationship between

God and the

people of Israel.

God has shown

unbelievable patience

and kindness and

mercy towards them.

And yet the

people of Israel

on the whole are

continuing to turn

away from God.

I'm not going to

go over the whole

story and all the

details.

But God sends

this man, Malachi,

to be his

spokesperson to the

people and to

bring his message

to them.

And the overall

message of God to

them is, you have

been unfaithful to

me.

Repent and turn

back to me.

Return to me.

And so here in

chapter 2, God is

speaking through

Malachi and he's

kind of telling them

the hard truth.

They have profaned

the covenant that

their ancestors made

with God by doing

a number of wicked

things.

And then he starts

naming them and

listing them.

The descendants of

Judah, he says,

have married women

who worship foreign

gods.

And then they try to

appease the Lord by

offering sacrifices to

him at the temple

and almost like we

haven't done anything

wrong or if we have

you could just

forgive us, right?

Malachi tells them

in verse 13 that

God no longer looks

with favor on their

offerings or accepts

them.

And the reason is

given in verse 14.

You ask why?

It is because the

Lord is witness

between you and the

wife of your youth.

You have been

unfaithful to her,

though she is your

partner, the wife of

your marriage covenant.

And so what the men

of Judah have done,

they were already

married.

They had wives of

their youth, which

wives from among

their own people,

and then they were

unfaithful to those

wives.

They went and married

other women from the

pagan, idol-worshiping

peoples around them.

And there's really

two massive problems

with this.

The first problem is

what we were just

talking about.

The problem of

becoming unequally

yoked together with

someone who doesn't

have the same faith

as you.

This is a massive

problem.

And if we go back in

the story of Israel,

we see that this has

been a problem for

centuries.

Solomon himself is

the most prominent

example of it.

Let me just read you a

snippet from his

story in 1 Kings

1 Kings 11 · chapter mention

chapter 11.

King Solomon,

however, loved many

foreign women besides

Pharaoh's daughter,

Moabites, Ammonites,

Edomites, Sidonians,

and Hittites.

They were from nations

about which the Lord

had told the Israelites,

you must not

intermarry with them

because they will

surely turn your

hearts after their

gods.

Nevertheless, Solomon

held fast to them in

love.

He had 700 wives of

royal birth and 300

concubines, and his

wives led him astray.

As Solomon grew old,

wives turned his heart

after other gods, and

his heart was not fully

devoted to the Lord his

God as the heart of

David his father had

been.

He followed Ashtoreth,

the goddess of the

Sidonians, and Molech,

the detestable god of the

Ammonites.

So Solomon did evil in the

eyes of the Lord.

He did not follow the

Lord completely, as David

his father had done.

It goes on from there to

describe the consequences

of Solomon's actions.

As punishment for this

sin, God took the kingdom

away from Solomon, except

one or two tribes that was

taken from his son.

This sin of marrying all

these wives who worshipped

other gods is what led to

the ruin of Solomon's great

kingdom.

It's what eventually led

Israel to be punished by

God later and go into

exile.

Now they've just come back

into the land from exile not

too long ago, and they're

doing it again in the days of

Malachi.

Malachi.

They're marrying women who

worship other gods.

And if even the great wise

King Solomon was not able to

keep his heart devoted to the

Lord, but compromised, so will

these men in Malachi's day.

Again, we see this clear

principle from God that we're

not to be joined in marriage to

those who don't share our faith

in God.

But that's just one of the

problems.

The second problem Malachi brings

up is that these women who

worship foreign gods are not

their first wives.

In order to get with these

pagan women, what did they do?

Glance down to verse 16.

They divorced their first

wives.

These men, each of them, did

not keep the marriage covenant

they had made with the wife of

their youth.

They divorced their first wives

so that they could marry these

women who worship foreign gods.

What God emphasizes here more

than anything else is the

unfaithfulness of this and the

betrayal of this.

You have been unfaithful to her

though she is your partner, the

wife of your marriage covenant.

God saying, you made a covenant with

her.

You made solemn vows to her.

She became your partner, your wife

and you've betrayed her.

You've broken your vows to her.

You've been unfaithful.

We look down to verse 16.

God basically says, by divorcing her,

you have hated the one that you

pledged to love.

By sending her away, you have done

violence to the one that you should

protect.

The marriage relationship is a

covenant relationship.

We see that so clearly here.

It's a relationship built on vows that

are sworn to one another and

witnessed by God.

And this is what makes the

relationship special.

This is what makes the relationship

permanent.

It's the vows.

It's that covenant between man and

woman.

I think in our culture today, though,

we've lost the meaning of covenant.

Promises are made and broken all the

time.

Agreements are signed and agreements

are broken all the time.

We barely have an idea of what

covenant is anymore.

One of the ways that we can get back

to the meaning of covenant is to go

into the Bible and we can read the

story of how God made a covenant

with Abraham.

We're not going to do that this

morning.

You can do that and see it in

Genesis 15.

But basically, what they did in those

days to make a covenant, they

chopped a bunch of animals in half.

And then they took the halves and

separated them.

They made their vows to each other.

This is what I'm going to do.

This is what I'm going to do.

And then together, the two parties

walked through the animal halves.

And the symbolism of that was

basically, if I fail to do that,

to keep my promise to you, my vow to

you, then may God do to me what we

just did to these animals.

That was the seriousness of covenant

in the ancient times.

It was the most serious form of

agreement or promise you could make.

You're basically binding yourselves

to fulfill your promise by a curse.

May God cut me in pieces if I fail to

do what I have promised.

And so obviously, you were very

careful about what you promised

when you entered into an arrangement

like that.

And you made every effort to do what

you promised, no matter how things

went.

Now, of course, they didn't do this

particular ancient ritual at weddings.

But weddings also involved the making

of a covenant between a man and a

woman.

And that's why we have those wonderful

words that we have in weddings today.

I take you to be my wife or husband,

to have and to hold from this day

forward, for better or for worse,

for richer or for poorer,

in sickness and in health,

to love and to cherish,

forsaking all others till death do us part.

These are the words of covenant.

The most serious of vows that we can

make to another person.

That's what God was upset with the

Israelites about in the days of

Malachi.

It is because the Lord is the witness

between you and the wife of your

youth.

You have been unfaithful to her,

though she is your partner,

the wife of your marriage covenant.

In other words, you made binding vows to

love and to be loyal to your first wife.

And then you broke them when you

divorced them so that you could marry

another.

And so this is foundation number three

for a strong, healthy, thriving and

happy marriage in a fallen world.

We need to know that marriage was made

to be permanent.

We need to know that it's a covenant

relationship.

It's about persevering in faithfulness,

no matter the troubles or trials,

no matter the circumstances that face us.

Marriage, of course, is about love,

but not the flimsy come and go feeling

of love.

In the words of a favorite song of mine,

marriage is about a love that's a

loyalty sworn, not a burning for a

moment.

Marriage is built on the promise that

God makes to his people.

Come what may, I won't abandon you.

I will never leave you or forsake you.

So practically, what does that mean?

It means that for those who are

unmarried, dating is looking for the

person who you will make that

covenant with.

Engagement is the process of

preparing to make that covenant

with the person that you've pledged

yourself to.

And for those of us who are already

married, it means that there should be

no romantic thought or attention

given to others of the opposite sex.

We have made our covenant.

We have made our choice.

We have sworn our love and loyalty to

one.

And deliberately going back on that is

unfaithfulness.

Very practically speaking, for those of

you who are married, there are certain

things that you can do, or I should say

avoid doing, which will help in your

marriage.

No matter how tough things get or how

deep the conflict, never threaten to

divorce your spouse.

Don't even mention or suggest it as an

option.

Though the feelings may run hot, though

anger burns, or the heart aches, though

the tears flow, let your spouse be sure of

one thing.

That you meant what you said when you

stood at the altar on your wedding day, and

that you will not leave them or forsake

them.

There are certain things that when they

are done or said, deeply hurt a spouse.

And if we believe in marriage as a

permanent covenant union, then we should

never do these things.

Ever.

And if we've done them, we need to

apologize to our spouses and let them

know that by the grace of God, we'll

never do them again.

Never express to your spouse that you

regret marrying them, or that you wish

you could go back and choose

differently.

Never do anything that symbolizes your

going back on your vows or your

marriage, your word.

Friends of mine years ago got into a

fight on their honeymoon, during which

they yelled at each other, swore at each

other, then took off their wedding

rings and threw them at each other.

I was amazed that their marriage lasted

past that fight.

Never do anything that symbolizes your

going back on your word.

Never even consider getting with another

man or woman while you're married.

Don't even allow yourself to entertain

the thought for a moment of what it would

be like to be married to someone else.

There is no one else if you are married.

When you have marital conflict, it's

sometimes needed to have some space and

time from each other, time to pray and

time to think, time to cool off.

If you leave the room from a fight, let

your spouse know that you'd need time and

space, but that you'll be back.

In Ephesians 4.26, it says,

Do not let the sun go down while you are

still angry, and do not give the devil a

foothold.

If you leave the house after an argument

or fight, always come back before

tomorrow.

The devil would love to ruin your

marriage.

Don't give him the opportunity.

Think of what that communicates to a

person when you leave the fight with no

explanation, slam the door, get in the

car and drive away.

Think of what it communicates if a spouse

begins packing their bags in the middle

of an argument.

God is witness between you and your

spouse, and he desires faithfulness from

each of you to the other, to the marriage

covenant that you have made.

So three foundations for a strong,

healthy marriage.

love God with all your heart.

Only say, I do, to those who love God with

all their heart.

Do not be yoked with unbelievers, and stay

faithful to the marriage covenant that you

have made.

Let's pray and ask the Lord for his grace in

living us out.

Father in heaven, we thank you for your wisdom that

comes from your word.

And we think of each marriage that's represented

in this room.

And we ask for your power to love our spouses the

way that you have loved us.

Help us to keep our vows and to be faithful to one

another.

Lord, we also want to pray for those who are not

yet married in this room.

And we ask that you would raise their vision of

marriage to something that resembles what you

intended.

That they would desire to be married in this kind

of marriage that you have revealed, and not the

kind that our world puts forward.

We ask that you would give self-control and

wisdom to our young people and our children as they

begin to make those decisions.

And as people come into their lives.

Lord, we think of those whose marriages are in a

really difficult spot right now.

And we pray for every grace for them and for their

spouses.

And we ask that you would bring reconciliation and

restoration.

And we think of those whose marriages have come to an

end.

And we're reminded that our ultimate relationship for

which we were made is the one with you.

And we thank you for that.

We just commit ourselves to your grace.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.