This week Laurie emphasized the importance of our marriage relationships. God created us male and female in His image, and He designed us to be one flesh. (Genesis 1:26-27 and Genesis 2:20-25) Our marriage is to be a picture of Christ and His Church. (Ephesians 5:32) A godly marriage glorifies God and is a shining light to the world.
We have learned in this study that the most important thing we are to do is love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. Laurie told us today that the other primary thing we really need to do is revere our husband and our marriage above everything else. It is not unlike when Jesus says: ‘Seek first the His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you, when you put your husband as your highest, primary, and ultimate earthly priority, all other things will fall into place, i.e. your children will be radically, cared for and positively impacted and others will 'see' Jesus in you, your marriage, and your family. Don’t let your marriage be mediocre. God wants your marriage to be over the top and amazing! In this way God is mightily glorified and enjoyed.
Our text for this week was Matthew 5:28-30, “You have heard that it was said, do not commit adultery. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.”
When Jesus refers to the right eye, he is talking about the “primary” eye, in other words, our focus. When He refers to the right hand, he is talking about our “primary” hand, or our activities and energies. As a woman, we are less prone to lusting after other men physically, but are we focused on things we shouldn’t be? Are we spending time doing activities that are taking away from our marriage relationship? Laurie gave the example of tennis in her life. She felt like the Lord led her to “cut off” and “throw away” tennis because it was taking her away from being focused on her marriage.
I. In order to help bond our marriages together in oneness, we need to remember that we are
A. The helper/completer. God gave us this role. He wants us to provide encouragement and comfort and seek to please our husband.
B. The prayer partner. Pray fervently for your husbands. You are never wasting time when you pray for your husband and your marriage. Pray through Ephesians 5, 2 Timothy 2, 1Thesalonians 5, Genesis 1:26-27 and Genesis 2: 20-25 for your husbands.
C. The guardian and keeper of the marriage. We are to create an environment of intimacy. We are to find ways to communicate love to our husbands.
D. The avoider of evil. We are to get rid of bitterness, critical thinking and speaking, comparing our husband to other men, and avoiding intimacy.
Remember that there are many forces working against your marriage: Satan, the world’s way of thinking, our flesh, sin, guilt, etc. However, God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3-4) and given us everything we need to live righteously by the power of His Holy Spirit.
Action Steps for this Week:
1. Right Eye: Focus on what you like about your husband and seek to please him. Cut out anything that needs to be cut out.
2. Heart: Incline your heart towards him. Pray and thank God (Philippians 4:8)
3. Right Hand: Make a plan. Be intentional about revering him and honoring him. Do something today that expresses your love and respect for him
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