Recap of 6/23/13 (Romans 3; Mark 7:18ff; Luke 9:23):

1.  “The first thing to acknowledge about marriage is that every couple is bound to struggle!” (Tirabassi)

2.  “When I talk with people who come to me in preparation for marriage I often say, “Weddings are easy; marriages are difficult.  The couple wants to plan a wedding; I want to plan a marriage.”  (Peterson)

3.  No one can build a healthy marriage while focusing on the weaknesses and deficiencies of their mates.  “It is not the blow-outs that will destroy your marriage, but the slow leaks.” (Jay Kessler). “We, too, have found that the day-to-day irritations and frustrations can tear apart the foundation of a loving relationship.” (Tirabassi)

4.  Marriage Killer #2 – The contemporary emphasis on being happy and fulfilled rather than on a holy and obedient walk with God. The need is “to develop a holy, obedient walk with God no matter what personal suffering may be involved.”” In other words, the route to fulfillment is not the one with the road sign reading, ‘Pleasure Ahead’ or “If it seems to meet your needs, keep going.’ The only sure path to real and lasting joy is the steep, rugged road marked ‘Obedience.’”(Crabb).  In his book Sacred Marriage by Gary Larsen, he asks the question: “What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?”

5.  Marriage Killer #3 – Fidelity to Scripture is made optional.  A course of action is “measured not in terms of its fidelity to Scripture, but in terms of its perceived effects on people’s needs and emotions.”  “In this line of thought, needy people march onto center stage, the spotlight bathes them in absorbing attention, and the God of the bible remains in the wings calling out directions as they search for fulfillment.  In Biblical Christianity, it is the Person of Christ who fills the spotlight, and He graciously beckons the audience to find eternal fulfillment by becoming lost in His glory.” (Crabb)