 How do you make your marriage last a lifetime I buy her anything she wants Still money from the church every day Husbands love your wife When you love your wife love is is is there certain elements of love that we need to remember first Corinthians 13 Gives to us a variety of ways to see the elements of love. It gives us a scriptural way of understanding it But one of the things Marina we're talking about that tonight. That's one of the things we spoke about we're talking about love in marriage and Love endures, you know, so Marie and I when we got married Determined that we would have a biblical understanding of what a relationship is and we put biblical principles to work and so Over the years We've become better at living for Jesus independently and we've become better at living for Jesus corporately Because we have each one of us has an individual walk with the Lord that blends into the married life And so it's very important for me as a man to guard my walk with God And it's important for my wife Marie to guard her personal walk with God and we Though we have individual Walks with the Lord. We also have roles within the home that we've learned to work together in So I've learned what my role as a husband is She has learned her role as a woman of God And so a man of God and a woman of God working together in the things of God With the love that endures that mentality of the patience and Kindness and the gentleness and the goodness and those things that pertain to love to apply those within our marriage to learn to talk as well as to hear and Learn to hear sometimes is more important than to talk and to respect one another and to pray for one another and And and all of those things That's how Marie and I have remained the way that we have for the years that we've been together You know a long time ago I knew what it was like to be without her and I discovered what it's like to be with her And I want to be with her more than I want to be without her and so because that's the truth I do everything that I can to make sure that I knew never do anything that would make it possible for me To be without her and so I love my wife You know and I love her like Jesus taught us to you know when Paul was speaking in Ephesians He spoke concerning husbands love your wife. He said even as Christ loved the church And he gave himself for her and so that element even as Christ, how did Christ love you? He loved you absolutely and totally without reservation and without any kind of stipulations he just loved you and so that's how I want to love my wife and Was I that way when I was a young man? No, no, I was a stupid kid Getting married trying to learn to To make it, you know, but over the years I discovered, you know, re and I re and I don't fight and it's not because we can't It's because over all these years we discovered there's very few things worth fighting for or over, you know, you know It's just a lot of you guys have been married a long time. You know what I'm saying I mean when you first get married on the boss No, you're you can't tell me what to do You know, and that was Marie was the boss and I was saying you can't tell me what to do No, you know, I'm the boss. I'm this and I'm that, you know, and you're gonna you know I started out with that attitude and and I eventually realized that no I'm better with her than without her and I need her and she needs me and why not be allies rather than belligerent and and I learned to to shut up and I learned to listen and I learned to value the things she values And no, I'm not perfect at that, but I'm a lot better now than I've ever been and I mean, I'll even sit sometimes for a few minutes watching a lifetime movie now that's sacrifice That is sacrifice. Oh that's sacrifice, you know, but Man's greater love has no man than this than to watch lifetime movie channel It's just it just pick your Bible up Read 1st Corinthians read 1st John You know read read your Gospels and see what love is and then just say how does that work in a marriage? And it does, you know, love is patient. Love is kind, you know doesn't boast You know, it's enduring you see the different qualities of it and then you say God make me that that's what I want to be I want to be this and And you know what over time he molds you into his image and And you become that but I entered into marriage with Marie with one thing And that was this we are gonna make it no matter what I we went it We never had any reserve clause. We never had any if it doesn't happen. Well, that's okay No, it was like we burned the boats. We landed on the shore. We're gonna go forward. There's no turning back That's a fact and that's and that's how we entered into marriage Never had any Consideration of divorce there were times when we were struggling where I thought maybe we've made a mistake being together But I also said I know God brought us together. He'll keep us together We're gonna learn to work these things out. There's nothing that can separate us. We're gonna remain Consistent. She's the same identical way I had the the advantage of having having a mom and dad who were married for 50 some years and she did too So we saw stability in marriage. That was our model and with Christ I can do all things and I can die to myself and I can become a man of God and I can be a good dad I can learn to do these things. It's not impossible to I just determined that that's what I would do and And no secret every married man in here knows what I just said we all know that you just hang on You just hang on and you know, what's good. It's good For me it is for you Josh, you're not married Don't get married bro