Over the next two weekends I will be performing weddings in Tennessee and Ohio. In Tennessee I will be officiating at my aunts wedding as she marries a sweetheart from years ago who was in the service with my Dad. In Ohio, I will be performing the service for a young man who was in the student ministry at a church I pastored in Southern Ohio. So, I thought to myself, “Self, seems like marriage is a good topic for the day!”
There’s a story I like to tell about a couple that had been married for sixty years. The wife had recently read an article about putting romance back into your marriage. It suggested doing some of the romantic things that you done when you were newlyweds. One night this elderly couple were sitting on the couch watching television. The wife said,”Earl, Do you remember when we were young, you would used to turn down the lights and blow in my ear?” So, Earl turned down the light and began to blow in his wife’s ear. She asked him, “Earl, remember when you used to stroke my hair?” So, Earl starts stroking his wife’s hair. She looked at him and asked, “Earl, remember when you used to nibble on my ear?” All of a sudden Earl gets up and starts to leave the room. His wife says in a heart broken tone of voice, “Earl, where are you going?” Earl replies back to her, “I’m going to get my teeth.”
Do you want to be that couple holding hands, walking around the lake together, enjoying life — taking hits off each other’s oxygen tank — making out in the car. Whatever it takes to keep that element of fun and playfulness and romance and love and intimacy and oneness and connectedness. Not roommates, but soul mates.
How many of you would like your marriage to end that way? That’s what I want because that’s the image God has.
Mark 10, “…and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore, what God has joined together, let man not separate."
Three God-given keys to make your marriage a happy marriage…
1. Find the Time – Be Together
I long to see you again, for I remember your tears as we parted. And I will be filled with joy when we are together again. 2 Tim. 1:4 (NLT)
And let us not neglect our meeting together… Heb. 10:25 (NLT)
Some marriages are like the ones who never talk. They communicate by putting Ann Landers articles on the refrigerator.
2. Share the Journey – Do It Together
We are in this fight together. You have seen me suffer for him in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of this great struggle. Phil. 1:30 (NLT)
…As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. Eph. 4:16 (NLT)
Where is that joyful spirit we felt together then? In those days, I know you would gladly have taken out your own eyes and given them to me if it had been possible. Gal. 4:15 (NLT)
3. Reach the Goals – Get It Together
Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one heart and purpose. Phil. 2:2 (NLT)
A friend loves you all the time. A brother is always there to help you. Prov. 17:17