Ephesians 5:22-25 (NKJV) 22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,

Faithfulness Our theme for 2017: Faithfulness Last month we spoke about raising faithful children This month we want to keep the theme of the family, but concentrate more on our marriages

Faithfulness Certainly we want to show faithfulness in all areas of our lives One area that we seemed to have struggled in as a whole over the last 50-60 years is in our marriages God expects us to be faithful to our spouse

Faithfulness No one ever said that marriage was easy, especially not our Lord When we look to God for His help and guidance, it certainly can be easier The Bible is clear on it’s teachings of faithfulness in marriage (Matt. 19); do we know what it takes to be faithful?

Faithfulness 1. Love God It may sound odd when speaking of being faithful in our marriage, but it is key God should be our first love, and if He is, it will help us remain faithful That’s because He wants us to be faithful

Faithfulness 1. Love God When a man and woman are joined, the two become one flesh (Gen. 2:24) What God has brought together, man is not to separate (Matt. 19:6) We also know that God hates divorce (Mal. 2:16)

Faithfulness 1. Love God Only death (Rom. 7:1-3) or marital unfaithfulness (Matt. 19:9) separates one from their spouse Knowing that, we should desire to stay faithful This will please the God that we love!

Faithfulness 2. Love your spouse Too many times we hear someone say, “I just don’t love them anymore” Remember those vows that we took on our wedding day? We don’t just fall out of love with our spouse, it happens due to our choices

Faithfulness 2. Love your spouse The Bible gives us ample inspired thoughts on the love that husband and wives should have for each other We see it in Ephesians 5:22-25, 28 as well as I Peter 3:1-7 I Corinthians 13 does a great job of describing love

Faithfulness 2. Love your spouse We need to determine that we are going to love our spouse and not hope that it continues by accident We certainly don’t need to allow that love to go to someone else Marriage takes work, so we need to work at loving our spouse continually

Faithfulness 3. Keep God as center Generally speaking, the marriages that dissolve are because both are not keeping God as the center Notice what God in the home will do for someone (II Sam. 6:6-12) The Lord blessed Obed-Edom while the ark rested in his home

Faithfulness 3. Keep God as center A God-centered marriage will affect… our speech our mind (attitude) our actions our reactions

Faithfulness 4. Make faithfulness a priority There are things that should be a priority to Christians Jesus said we should seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness first (Matt. 6:33) Obviously it shows importance

Faithfulness 4. Make faithfulness a priority People should always hold importance over things (I Jn. 2:15-17) Our relationships are an important part of our lives The relationship we have with our spouse is a reflection of our relationship with God

Faithfulness 4. Make faithfulness a priority Paul likened the marriage relationship to the relationship between Jesus and the church (Eph. 5:22-33) In the OT, we see the same idea of the relationship between God and His people We need to be found faithful in all things