Never Give Up!

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Matthew 19:3-6  (NIV)

3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”
4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”




Marriage is a Covenant not a Contract.  


1. Covenant is based on mutual commitment.


2. Contract is based on mutual distrust. 


"Commitment is being willing to be unhappy while we work it out." 


3. Covenant surrenders rights and assumes responsibility.


4.  Contract protects rights and shirks responsibility. 


5.  Covenant has the interest of the other in mind.


6.  Contract has personal convenience in mind.


"God remains faithful even when we are faithless." 


From this Day Forward...

Malachi 2:16  (NIV)

16 “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.


"Love is not a feeling.  It has feeling."


1. We will make the choice to love.


Colossians 3:14 (NIV)

14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.


2. We will prioritize our relationship.


Galatians 6:7-9 N (NIV)

7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.


"Treat your spouse the way you want them to respond."


Psalm 127:1  (NIV)

Unless the Lord builds the house,
    the builders labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
    the guards stand watch in vain.

Chris Hodges, Church of the Highlands
https://www.churchofthehighlands.com/media/message/never-give-up

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