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Risk Becoming a Great Lover (Gen 2: 18-25; Eph 5:22-33) ------------------------------------------------------- The church should teach on marriage and intimacy, because the world twists this beautiful relationship that God created. Wouldn’t it be great if our marriages at Celebration are so good that the community takes notice? We do not FIND our soulmate or get lucky in love as the world would have us believe. The reality is that that we must risk enough for love, need to work at it, and be strong enough to not walk out when things get tough. The world celebrates conquests and people’s lives are destroyed. God’s design is so much better!! We need to forge a one-flesh love that this world cannot break or tear apart! God recognized that man needed someone special on earth. He took a piece from Adam’s side to make woman. Note that we are not 2 people to battle, but are SIDE by SIDE working together. God’s plan is 1 man and 1 woman for life. Marriage is a spiritual covenant between man, woman, and God. For a good marriage, we can’t be selfish; we can’t try to fix each other; and we can’t dwell on the negative. Remember, we CHOSE to marry this person. Now we need to follow through. God chooses the marriage relationship to describe the relationship of Christ and the Church. Man is commanded to love his wife like Jesus loves us, dying to self, with a life-giving love. Wives are told to submit to their husband, but this means to CHOOSE to submit, not to become a doormat. Men have a God-given responsibility to lead, not to repress, and women are to respect and submit to their husband not because he deserves it, but because it is God’s way. If a couple fights over their individual rights, then a marriage crumbles. Forging is done through heat and pressure. We need to consider whether our marriage will fail when there is heat and pressure, or whether it becomes stronger through the power of God because it is forged. Application points: -- Do yourself the favor of coming in second to your spouse! -- Recapture the wonder! -- Dwell on the good and pray for the rest. Stop trying to fix each other and forget about the past. Pray for God to make the change. Men, love her to greater inner beauty, and women, respect him to greater inner strength.