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Marathon Marriages

I Think I Married The Wrong Person, part 6 of 6
Marriage, using a running analogy, is more like a marathon than a sprint. Often couples start off really well only to find it difficult to maintain marital closeness, intimacy, and oneness in the long haul. In this message we will talk about powerful principles that marriages that last engage in. Contrary to popular belief, marathon marriages aren’t marriages without problems, instead, they are marriages that know how to navigate through problems together so that no matter what happens spouses maintain oneness and unity.

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* If marriage were compared to a track meet, it would be more like a ___MARATHON___ than a ___SPRINT___.

4 Training Techniques For A Marathon Marriage

1) BEFORE MARRIAGE, ___CAREFULLY SELECT___ YOUR RUNNING MATE. (personal compatibility)

“This is God’s will for you: He wants you to be holy and completely free from immorality. Each of you men should know how to take a wife in a holy and honorable way, not with a lustful desire, like the heathen who do not know God.”
(1 Thessalonians 4:3-5, TEV)

* Marathon marriages begin with ___A HEALTHY SEARCH PROCESS___.

“He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord.”
(Proverbs 18:22)

2) AFTER THE HONEYMOON, ___BEGIN A REGULAR TRAINING___ SCHEDULE. (emotional closeness)

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will become united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ This is a profound mystery– but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves him- self, and the wife must respect her husband.”
(Ephesians 5:31-33)

* Marathon marriages grow with ___SUBMISSIVE PARTNERS___.

“[Husbands & wives] Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”
(Ephesians 5:21)

3) WHEN YOU HIT THE WALL, __FIND A TRAINER TO HELP__… AND FAST! (relational consistency)

“[Jesus said]: ‘So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.’ ‘Why then,’ the Pharisees asked, ‘did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?’ Jesus replied, ‘Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning.’”
(Matthew 19:6-8)

* Marathon marriages last with __SUPPORTIVE PEOPLE__.

Look for:

1st) ___OLDER, MATURE PEOPLE___. (Titus 2:3-4)

2nd) ___OTHER RELIABLE PEOPLE___. (Prov. 24:5-6, 25:19)

3rd) ___A GOD-HONORING COUNSELOR___. (Prov. 27:9)

4) TO WIN THE MARATHON, __DEDICATE LIFE’S__RACE TO JESUS CHRIST_. (spiritual commitment)

“For it is said, ‘The two will become one flesh.’ But he who unites himself with the Lord Is one with Him in spirit.”
(1 Corinthians 6:16-17)

* Marathon marriages thrive with ___SPIRITUAL DEVOTION___.

“Let’s return to the Lord… let’s do our best to know the Lord. His coming is as certain as the morning sun; He will refresh us like rain renewing the earth in the springtime.”
(Hosea 6:1,3, CEV)