From the very beginning God wanted a love story. He didn't want to be alone. Rather he wanted a relationship. Not with robots that He could control, but with humans who have emotions and feelings. That's why He made humanity. And since we are made in the image of God...we want that same love story. We want someone with emotions and feelings. We want love just like God describes in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8,

Love is patient...Love is kind...Love does not envy...Love does not boast...Love is not proud...Love is not self-seeking...Love keeps no record of wrongs...Love delights in truth...Love protects...Love trusts...Love hopes...Love perseveres...Love never fails

This love is rarely seen in people these days. It seems lost...maybe even in Christian's hearts as well. The more you get burnt...the more you hide your love for humanity.

God called us to love him. He is our husband. He is the one we lean on, cry with, pour our hearts too.

This love story with God was His design for marriage also. It takes two to be married. But both must be willing to submit unto the Lord. Marriage is not a fun fling. It’s a lifetime of fighting. Not against each other, but against the odds. The odds of the devil getting a foot hold in one of your lives. The odds of dishonesty. The odds of adultery. The odds of heartbreak and pain. This world isn't a quiet, peaceful, ladeda place. It’s our battlefield. It’s our war. It’s the place where God sees...are you in or are you out. It’s a place searching for true love in the midst of heartache.

God called us to be his bride. A bride of cleanliness...white as snow. Our marriage to God should be exactly what our marriage should be like on earth.

Husbands here is your role:

Die to yourself.

Provide for your family.

Guide your family in the ways of the Lord.

Love no other.

Keep your eye gates pure.

Be gentle with your wife (mentally, physically, and romantically).

Be kind yet firm with your children.

This is your battle ground...your mission field. Don't leave the wife of your youth. The Lord doesn't even hear your prayers if you hurt her.

Wives here is your role:

Be encouraging.

Submit to your husband as to the Lord.

Raise your children for the Lord.

Watch over the affairs of your household.

This is your battleground...your mission field. God made you to be under the head of your husband. This does not give your husband the right to mistreat you mentally, physically, or romantically. Your husband should have the mind of Christ. That why it says "...submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord," (Ephesians 5:22). Emphasize "do to the Lord." Your husband should not be a bully, rather he should die to himself like Christ died for us on the cross. This is love.

Humility, gentleness, understanding, caring more for you than himself, listening to your heart, and having a caring spirit even when you don't have the words to describe your feelings.

Husbands should love their wives like 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. If he has that down, then he should love you the way the Heavenly Father loves his daughter.

Marriage is a lifelong beautiful commitment if both the husband and the wife keep their vows. It’s a life of love, joy, pain, heartache, romance, kindness, gentleness, growing old together, and one day... going home into the loving arms of Jesus, battleground won, mission field completed.

It’s a life of wonder...filled with sunrises, sunsets, flowers, and hope. A life where pain heals because you are going through life together.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, show the men and woman of this day what true love is. Matthew 19:26, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

How many times have you wanted to give up because you're tired and don't know how to fight anymore? You've prayed; you've begged; you've reconciled, you've trusted, and you've hoped. You have even put every ounce of faith you could muster into what you are believing for, and still see no progress. 

I want to remind you that our timing isn't God's timing. Our "yes" today may be God's "yes" five years from now. And as you read this, your eyes probably bugged out of your head, thinking "FIVE YEARS! I don't have five years! I need a miracle today." However, you must remember that God may not be earlier with his answer, but he is ALWAYS on time. When you feel like you can't possibly go through what you're going through any longer, God drops you just enough faith to say, "Get me to tomorrow."

Tomorrow is a beautiful place. A place where you may get the overall answer, or a place where you get fed a little piece of hope. We don't want to be the ones who lost hope five minutes before God answers. It says in Luke 18:8, “I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”” Therefore, don’t be the one that lost faith and trust in God. Instead, be like the ancients in the Bible. In the book of Hebrews, it talks about how they were commended by faith. They never got to live out their miracle, but still had faith that their God would bring it to pass even if they were gone. That's the type of faith we need in our God. The type of faith that lives out a lifetime and doesn't give up before the miracle. Matthew 19:26, " . ..with God all things are possible."

Prayer

Heavenly Father, give us the faith it takes to continue the good fight of faith. Give us hope in the broken and light in the darkness. Give us courage and a fighter spirit for the hard days. Give us rest when we need it and give us strength even when we're broken. We thank You for all of this in Jesus name. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.