Let's read together from Ephesians 5, verses 18-33.
We're working our way through Ephesians. Ephesians 5, verses 18-33.
! And then we'll sing a hymn together just after that.
And God's Word says this,
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery.
But be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,
giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord,
for the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church,
his body, and is himself its Savior.
Now, as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word,
so that he might present the church to himself in splendor,
without spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
that she might be holy and without blemish.
In the same way, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.
He who loves his wife loves himself,
for no one ever hated his own flesh,
but nourishes and cherishes it just as Christ does the church,
because we are members of his body.
Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh.
This mystery is profound,
and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
However, let each one of you love his wife as himself,
and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
This is God's Word for us today.
We are walking through the back half of Ephesians,
and the question that we're asking every week is,
what does the church do?
How do Christians live a redeemed life all the way?
And from this week, the next several weeks,
Paul turns to say that the gospel reorders and changes the way you do personal relationships.
So marriage, obviously dating and marriage this week,
and then if you look down in the,
if you have a Bible, you can see that then he goes on to talk about children and parents,
and then employers and employees.
So he's talking about how the gospel can change the way you live in personal relationships,
in every arena of life.
So today, marriage, we've got to do a flyover again like last week,
because when you work through a passage like this,
you see that every single clause,
every single word could have its own reflection,
and there could be a long series just on marriage, of course, right?
We could have weeks and weeks just thinking about the Bible's understanding of marriage,
the mystery of marriage.
Paul calls it the mystery of marriage, right?
And so some of you, if you're married in the room,
maybe you look at your spouse sometimes and say,
you are a mystery to me.
Marriage is a mystery, right?
And you say, I already know what Paul means.
Marriage is a mystery.
Now, there's a lot to that word, mystery.
Marriage is a mystery, but what does he mean?
Let's just think about the big idea, the flyover,
one kind of pass through on what that means.
And I want to focus on the headline,
which is actually the language submit,
submit to one another.
Now, if you come today,
we all come today to the Bible's teaching here about marriage,
this very famous passage, Ephesians 5,
and we come from different backgrounds,
different relationships to the concept of marriage.
Some of us may come divorced.
We may come having had a bad marriage,
a hard marriage, a difficult marriage at the present maybe.
And so you might come and read Paul's model for marriage
and be skeptical as to whether it's possible.
And some of us come single today,
and we're single maybe in content.
And so there may be a bit of an indifference
to what Paul says here about it.
This is just not where I am
and not where I really want to be.
Some of us come single and discontent,
frustrated, upset as to our relationship status right now
and wanting something different.
And so we could come to this jaded and cynical
about marriage and the model of marriage
that we read about here.
Some of us come living a pretty good marriage right now
in our lives.
We have a good marriage.
And we know, however, if you come in a good marriage,
that marriage is very up and down at times.
And I know that I can look at this today
and say that I am teaching today
not as the husband that I want to be.
Sorry, I said that completely wrong.
Not as the husband I want to be.
Boy, that's bad.
Not from a perspective of the husband I am,
reading my own life into this passage,
but what I want to be, right?
The women in the room that are married,
you can say this is what I want to be.
Husbands, this is what I want to be, not what I am.
So that's the perspective I'm coming from today
as a teacher here.
But I sure know this,
that all of us come as contemporary Western people
in the year of our Lord, 2025,
in a city like Edinburgh.
And that means when we read the word submit,
we get a little squirmy in our seats
and it's challenging
and we don't like it at first.
And that's because I think
if you'll open up to this,
what Paul says here,
what God says here,
what God says here about marriage,
open up to it.
I think we get squirmy about this concept
because we have a problem
with our view of marriage.
First, that's the first point today.
And then that means when we see that,
we can then turn to see the goal of marriage,
the real goal, secondly.
And then finally,
only if we see those two things
can we then see the power
that Paul talks about for better marriages.
So those three things,
the problem we have,
the goal of marriage as it actually is,
according to God,
and then the power that's here
for better marriages.
So let's think about that.
First, we have a problem with marriage.
Every person does.
All of us human beings do
have a problem with relationships.
And the problem is this.
We approach marriage and dating
from the perspective of self-interest
and personal self-fulfillment.
We approach marriage and dating
from the perspective of self-fulfillment
and a personal interest
in meeting our own needs.
So we ask when we come to relationships,
instinctively,
even if you don't say it out loud,
from the bottom of your consciousness,
how is this relationship going to better me
and meet my personal needs?
The pleasure I'm looking for,
the satisfaction in life,
the money goals that I might have,
we all do that.
And so that,
because of our selfishness,
it's really hard to come
and read this passage
when it says submit.
Now, press pause on that.
We read not from verse 22 to 33,
which is the classic text on marriage
in Ephesians 5.
We read from 18 to 33.
And there's a reason for that.
Usually 22 to 33 is treated as an island
all by itself.
And it begins with,
wives, submit to your husbands.
Right?
So if you back up to verse 18,
Paul says,
don't get drunk,
be filled with the Spirit.
So it's almost like
when you section it off like that,
it's like Paul is saying,
bullet point one,
stop drinking too much.
Bullet point two,
let me change subjects
and say,
now wives,
submit to your husbands.
Right?
And that's not the right way to read it.
This passage is not on an island.
It's,
you can't,
let me say that you cannot understand
what Paul's saying
without 18 to 21.
That's the,
it's fundamental to understanding
what's going on here.
And in 18 to 21,
we have one long sentence in Greek.
So if you're reading from an NIV today,
it's broken it up into a couple sentences,
but in Greek,
it's one long sentence.
And let me just read it to you one more time.
Don't get drunk with wine,
for that is debauchery.
Be filled with the Spirit,
addressing one another
in psalms, hymns,
and spiritual songs,
singing,
making melody of the Lord with your heart,
giving thanks always
and for everything to God,
the Father,
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and submitting to one another
out of reverence for Christ.
So that last clause,
submitting to one another
out of reverence for Christ,
he's talking to everybody
when he says that.
And so this,
you could think of that last line,
submit to one another
out of reverence,
the word that in Greek is fear of Christ,
as the headline
into which all the rest of Ephesians 5 and 6
comes underneath.
And so what is he saying?
Submit to one another
out of reverence for Christ.
Husbands,
submit out of reverence for Christ.
Wives,
submit out of reverence for Christ.
Children,
submit out of reverence for Christ.
Parents,
there's even a parental submission
to children
out of reverence for Christ.
Employers,
masters and slaves
in the early first century,
employers and employees
submit to one another
out of reverence for Christ.
mutual submission
is the headline article
at the top of the paper.
If Paul's writing a manual
for personal relationships,
the title of the manual
is mutual submission.
Back and forth.
It goes both directions
throughout every single one
of these relationships.
If you have a Bible,
you can look over
at Ephesians 6 verse 9
just to prove this.
In Ephesians 6 verse 9,
he turns to the masters
in a master-slave relationship
in the first century
and says,
masters,
do the same
as your servants
are doing for you.
Submitting,
serving.
That's what he says.
So we see that
this is a mutual submission situation.
What is submission?
What does it mean to submit?
This word here
has a synonym
throughout the rest of Ephesians
and the synonym
is service
or helpfulness.
So submission just means
serve,
helpful,
be helpful.
And Paul gives
a really clear definition
of it in the next book
of the Bible,
Philippians,
a whole chapter in fact
on it,
Philippians 2,
where he says,
this is submission,
this is service.
Do nothing
from selfish ambition
or self-centeredness.
Instead,
all things in humility
like Jesus
by counting others
more significant
than yourself.
So what does it mean
to submit,
according to Paul?
It means
to count
the other person
more significant
than yourself
and to give yourself
away for them.
Service and helpfulness
is what the concept means.
So let me say
like this,
submission
is laying down
your rights
in order to serve
somebody else
with humility
like Jesus served you.
Laying down your rights
to serve somebody else
to seek their ultimate good.
Serving them
unto their ultimate good,
never using them.
So that's the difference
in the modern conception.
We approach relationships,
self-fulfillment.
And so we use people
to meet our needs.
And the Bible's model
is mutual submission
where I lay down
my rights
to serve
the good of my spouse,
the ultimate good
of my spouse
to meet their needs,
to make their ultimate good happen.
Okay,
so let me prove this to you
once more
and move on.
In verse 22,
when it says,
wives submit to your husbands,
to your own husband,
as to the Lord,
the word submit
is not there
in the Greek text.
So it doesn't say wives,
in the Greek text
it does not say wives
submit to your own husbands
as to the Lord.
It says,
wives
to your own husbands
as to the Lord.
You see,
what's it doing?
It's pulling the word submit
from the previous verse
and assuming it,
meaning you cannot read 22
if you have not read 21
and gotten that
as the headline.
Right?
There's not even a verb there.
So mutual submission
is the headline
and now he turns
and says,
now wives,
there's a way to do that
and husbands,
there's a way to do that.
So he repeats,
he assumes the word
for a wife to a husband
and then husbands,
he assumes
and gives you a word
called love.
Mutual submission
is the model
that he gives us.
Now let me sum it all up.
Sum it all up here.
This is saying
that the Holy Spirit,
when you believe the gospel
and the Holy Spirit
comes into your life,
the Holy Spirit
reorders relationships
to be what they were meant to be
from the time of creation.
Marriage given
from the beginning
of world history,
18 to 21,
how does it start?
Be filled with the Spirit
and submit to one another.
Meaning that he's talking
to Christians
and he's saying
to Christians
and Christian marriage,
the gospel
and the presence
of the Holy Spirit
in your life
has to change
the way you approach marriage.
It's a choice
to submit to one another,
to display what marriage
was meant to be
from Genesis 1 and 2
and you've got to get
the Holy Spirit
into your life
in order to live this out.
It's a gospel transformed
mutual submission perspective.
It's a model
that only the gospel
can bring into your life
and what that means for us
is that when we look
at the problem,
self-interest,
self-fulfillment,
meeting my needs
all the time.
Paul's telling us
you need the Holy Spirit
in your life
to change you
from the inside out
and marriage is here
to serve that.
Let me give you
three quick applications
of this in your life.
Number one,
more conceptually driven.
Number one,
if you look at verse 22
where it says,
wives submit
to your husbands
and that you get
frustrated by that language,
squirmy
by that language,
just remember
that what Paul's doing here
is he's saying
the model is
mutual submission
and there's a type
of submission
appropriate for men
and women
in both directions
in certain roles here.
And it is Holy Spirit
empowered
laying down
of personal rights
to seek the good
of the other
in different ways.
Now,
the context he says
that line into,
Aristotle was the
dominant philosopher
of the first century.
He had lived
several centuries prior.
Aristotle says,
quote,
it is natural
that men
rule over women
just like some men
rule over other men.
So,
Aristotle believed
that there were
slave races,
that some races
were meant to be slaves
and he also believed
that women
were meant
to be hierarchically
subordinate
as slaves,
as servants
to men.
So,
this is Aristotle.
This is the dominant view
in the Roman Empire.
And so,
men in the Roman Empire
would often marry
and they would marry
for status.
And then,
of course,
they would live
any life they wanted
to on the side,
right?
They were never committed.
The commitment
was for their station
in life,
but they were never
really committed
in love and cherishing.
And you've got to see
that when Paul,
boy,
verse 28 and 29,
verse 33,
when Paul turns
in the Greco-Roman culture
and says,
husbands,
love and cherish
your wife
as if she were
your body.
because nobody
hates their own body.
He is talking
into a culture
that's dominated
by Aristotle
where men really
do believe
that women
are a slave gender
and it's revolutionary.
It changed the world.
And he's saying
that no,
not at all.
Men and women
equal before the Lord
and called
to mutually submit
to one another
in the beautiful model
that God has given us
in marriage.
Secondly,
non-Christians
can have healthy marriages
and that's a different talk
for a different day.
I can't treat that right now,
but I want to say this.
In the light of verses
18 to 21,
you can't come
and expect a culture,
the culture at large
to approach marriage
the way that we're reading
about right here.
Why?
Because verse 18 to 21
says you need the Holy Spirit.
You need the gospel.
You need the Spirit.
And so when we look
and say,
boy,
our culture
doesn't understand marriage,
verse 18 to 21
makes sense of that.
It says that the Holy Spirit
has got to get into your life
to see the model of marriage
that God created
from the beginning.
And so we can't expect
a culture without the Holy Spirit
to think about marriage
like the Holy Spirit
drives us to think
about marriage like.
And then thirdly
and finally,
if you're married today
or if you are dating
or if you hope
to be dating soon,
if you have plans,
what does this mean?
This means you've got to get
verses 18 to 21
in your life first.
You've got to get
the Holy Spirit
in your life first.
You've got to look
for somebody
that sees 18 to 21
mutual submission
laying down their rights
to serve one another
as the model
for the relationship
you're stepping into.
Look for that person.
Secondly,
I've got to be quick,
the goal.
All right,
the goal here of marriage,
that's the problem we have.
The Holy Spirit
reorders our relationships.
And then secondly,
the goal for marriage.
Now,
Paul says here
that marriage
is meant to be
a one flesh union
with one another
in verse 31.
What does he mean by flesh?
Is it physical?
And of course,
we know that
that is a reality in marriage.
But flesh also means
person as well.
So he's saying
that there's a dynamic here
where you become
one person.
And so when he says,
you know,
you move together
as one person
in one direction.
Not the band,
but just a good relationship.
That's how it moves.
All right?
And then he says,
okay,
here's what mutual submission
looks like.
Wives,
submitting to your husbands,
giving yourself away
in service
and love
and helpfulness
to husbands.
And so he says here,
yes,
the husband leads,
but how?
So the word submission here
is a word
for both parties
and it's a word
that has a military
connotation to it.
It's a soldiering word
and it's got the connotation
of a captain
leading a group of soldiers.
That's the background
of this word.
And you can imagine,
this is what he says.
He says,
mutual submission,
husbands leading,
yes,
but how?
How do they submit?
Well,
the captain,
imagine trench warfare
and in trench warfare
the captain gets
the troops all together
and he says,
we're about to go over the edge
and we're going to run
right into the firing squad.
And who is the first person?
The captain gathers
the troops,
the captain says,
this is where
we're going together.
And it is the captain
who takes the first step
and takes the first bullet,
right?
And so Paul turns and says,
this is your role,
husband,
mutual submission.
Your role is to lead
by giving your life away,
if that's what it takes,
to take this relationship
to the point
of spiritual maturity,
of real growth.
There's an activity
of giving your life away
for the sake of your bride,
your spouse.
And then he turns
to a wife and says,
well,
let me picture it.
It's easier to image
than describe.
Imagine a beautiful dance,
a waltz,
a great waltz,
right?
Imagine you're watching
Strictly Come Dancing,
right?
I've never seen that show,
but I understand
it's like Dancing with the Stars,
I think,
from America.
I have seen that.
And, you know,
you get these great,
these dancers,
and they're going to waltz.
And if both people
try to step forward
in the waltz
at the beginning of the dance,
what happens?
They kick each other
in the shin,
right?
So, one person
has to take a step forward
and the other
takes a step back,
right?
And you get
this beautiful harmony,
this giving and receiving
that takes place,
and it becomes
this one flesh movement,
to put it in the metaphorical sense,
this beautiful dance.
And that's what Paul's
talking about here,
this harmony
of movement,
of giving and receiving,
of leading,
yet submitting,
at the same time,
all together.
It's a harmony.
And he's saying,
this is the model,
and the motivation
is the big goal.
And here's the big goal.
Point to the big goal.
Verse 32,
he says,
the mega mystery in Greek
is that this marriage,
this harmony,
this dance,
is to be a living reenactment
of Christ,
the true groom's love
for His bride.
That this harmony
should reflect
the love
that Jesus Christ has
for His ultimate bride,
the church.
And so here's the big idea.
Only a Christian marriage
can see the big vision of this,
that marriage exists
to be a living illustration
and signpost
of the love
of the gospel itself.
The love of Jesus Christ,
the groom,
for His beautiful bride,
the church,
in the gospel itself.
Marriage is to be
so harmonious
and love and cherishing
that it looks like that.
That's the goal.
That's what we're striving
towards in marriage.
Now, let me mention
a couple quick practicals here
and move to the final point.
Number one,
notice that there is not
a word in this passage
telling you
what leading
and being led
looks like
in any particular way.
There's not a word.
There's nothing here
that says
one of you
should cut the grass,
one of you
should take out
the trash most often,
one of you should work,
one of you shouldn't.
Not a word.
You don't have details here.
And that's because
it's not always the same.
Right?
So this can be worked out
in many, many ways.
Secondly,
is it saying,
wives,
do what you're told
by your husband
because he's the leader?
No.
Not at all.
Why?
Lots of reasons,
but let me just give you one.
What is submission?
Submission,
we said,
mutual submission
is laying down
your rights
to seek
the ultimate good
of your spouse,
the other.
And wives in the room
surely know
that sometimes
your husband
makes decisions
that are not seeking
anybody's ultimate good.
Right?
And it is not
seeking his ultimate good
to not confront,
to not have conflict,
to not say sometimes
that was the wrong decision.
Right?
Of course.
See,
conflict in marriage
is necessary
if you're actually seeking
the other person's
ultimate good
because there's times
where you've got to come
and say
that was the wrong choice.
You said the wrong thing.
That was mean.
Right?
And that means
if you're truly seeking
somebody's ultimate good,
there's always
a back and forth
between activity
and passivity,
a mutual giving
and receiving
in both directions,
always.
You have to be.
You see,
let me give you this.
The goal underneath the goal.
What's the goal
underneath the goal?
If you look at
verse 26 and 27,
what was Jesus' goal
in coming for His great bride?
It says,
He came to cleanse her
and make her wrinkle-free,
cleansed from all unrighteousness.
Right?
What is the goal of marriage?
The goal underneath the goal
to signpost the gospel
and the goal underneath that
is to pursue
your spouse's holiness,
to seek their holiness,
that you say,
I want them to be a diamond.
And what have we been talking about
in the back half of Ephesians?
It's all about imitation of Christ,
of becoming who God
has made you in Christ,
of becoming the emerald,
the diamond
that God has pronounced you
to be through the gospel.
Marriage,
the goal of marriage,
is to seek the well-being
of your spouse
so much so
that he or she
becomes the diamond
that God has pronounced them to be.
It's to pursue
their holiness ultimately.
And that means finally,
and I'll move to the last thing,
that two qualities,
I read through this passage
and I just note
some of the particular words.
It says,
Husbands,
love her,
cherish her.
It says to both parties,
verse 31,
hold fast
to one another.
Love and respect,
mutual submission,
all these words.
You take all these words,
I think you whittle them down
and you have two qualities
to a healthy marriage.
And the two qualities
are passionate love
commingled
with unyielding commitment.
Think about the world
Paul's speaking into.
The first century,
dominated by Aristotle.
That old world
was commitment
without passion.
Commitment
without cherishing.
So I will marry you,
said the first century husband.
I will marry you,
but I will have lots
of relationships
on the side.
And I need you
to provide status for me.
Right?
That's commitment,
but there's no love.
There's no cherishing.
There's no looking
at your bride
as your own body.
And you look at the new world
and what is it?
We have all love,
all feelings,
but no commitment.
Right?
We have feelings
without foundation.
We have feelings
of love
without holding fast.
And Paul says
the model here
is passionate love
where you are seeking
to actively cherish
your spouse
and at the same time
unyielding commitment,
holding fast.
And those two things
are coming together
and that's a beautiful relationship
according to this model.
Now if you are married,
again,
if you are dating,
if you hope to be dating,
look for somebody,
become somebody,
talk to your spouse
and say,
is the goal
of our relationship
one another's holiness?
That's the question.
Have you talked about it?
Have you sat down
and said,
is it really the case
that our goal
for one another
is pursuing
each other's holiness?
That's what Paul's
calling us to here.
Lastly,
I have to finish.
Where are we going
to get the power for this?
That's the question
often at the end
of these sermons.
Where are we going
to get the power for this?
If you just look
from verses 18 to 33,
notice how many times
in this sequence
Paul brings us back
to Jesus.
So from 18,
I'll just list a few of you,
a few of them.
Verse 18,
be filled with the Spirit.
Verse 19,
make melody to the Lord.
That's Jesus.
Verse 20,
give thanks in the name
of the Lord,
Jesus Christ.
Verse 21,
submit to one another
why out of reverence
for Christ.
Submit to the Lord,
the next verse,
as Christ is the head
of the church,
its Savior.
The church submits
to Christ.
Love as Christ loved.
Love as Christ
gave himself up.
Every single clause,
Paul says something
to us,
and then he turns
and says something
about Jesus.
Every single clause
in a back and forth.
And notice the one
probably most important one,
the headline,
submit to one another
out of reverence
for one another.
No.
It's not submit
to one another
out of respect
and reverence
for each other.
It's submit to one another
out of fear of Jesus,
fear of Christ.
Fear there means all.
Love, honor.
In other words,
what is it saying?
It's saying the way
to sustain a beautiful marriage,
like we're reading about here
and to grow into it,
is not because you look
and say,
I deserve to be loved
like this,
and she or he deserves
to be loved like this.
Right?
You know that that
cannot sustain it.
If you look and say,
I love you because
of all your qualities
and that's it,
you know that over time
you will both struggle
if that is the only reason.
What does he say?
He says,
submit to one another
in deep love and affection,
cherishing,
holding fast
out of fear of Jesus,
out of reverence for Christ.
He says,
keep coming back to Christ
and look at him
if you want to be able
to look at one another
and serve one another
to the point
of seeking their holiness.
He says,
you've got to constantly
come back
to the Christ
who died,
the great groom
who died for you,
the great bride.
That's the one
you have to look at
if you want to be sustained
in this possibility,
a relationship like this.
And this is the last word here.
He says at the end,
verse 32,
marriage is a mega mystery.
What is he talking about there?
He's bringing us
in that word mystery
all the way back
to the beginning of history.
Genesis 1 and Genesis 2.
And you can remember
there that there was a marriage.
Adam and Eve were married.
And Eve stood in the Garden of Eden
next to the tree
of the knowledge
of good and evil.
and she reached out her hand
and she took from it.
And in verse 7 of Genesis 3,
it says,
Adam was with her.
And Adam had been given
a calling,
protect the garden.
Protect your bride.
Love her and cherish her forever.
And seek her ultimate good.
What is marriage?
It's there to seek
the ultimate good of the other.
And Adam had been given
that charge,
seek her ultimate good.
And you know what he did?
He stood next to her
as she reached out
and she ate
and she broke the world.
She was deceived.
He was not.
He knew what was happening.
And he let it happen
the whole way.
And then when God
came into the garden,
God said,
what is going on?
Where are you?
What have you done?
And what did he do?
The first word he speaks
is he blames her for it.
So that is the opposite
of Ephesians 5.
That's the opposite
of healthy marriage.
Okay?
And if you were to read
Ephesians 5 backward
into Genesis 2 and 3,
what could we ask?
What would a beautiful,
wonderful husband,
what should Adam have done
in the moment that Eve
reached out her hand
and took and ate?
When God came down,
boy, that cost the world.
It's exile.
It's the loss of God's presence.
It's bruised and broken
by the fall.
What should he have done?
What does Paul say
here in Ephesians 5?
The role of a husband
is to love her
to the point
of laying down his life
for her sake.
What should he have done?
He should have said,
Lord,
don't send her into exile.
Don't let her go into judgment.
Take me.
It's my fault.
I will lay down my life for her.
I will die
so that she might live.
That's what he should have said.
Thanks be to God
that there is a better Adam
than the first one.
A second Adam.
A true Adam.
An Adam that came all the way
into the middle of history
and said,
I will lay my life down
for my bride.
A great groom.
If you're married,
if you're dating,
if you're looking for marriage,
do you see that
because Jesus Christ
came to be your great groom,
the more and more
you run into his arms,
the more your relationship
has the potential for greatness.
Let us pray.
Father,
we ask that you would give us
conviction
about the way
we are pursuing
our relationships.
We ask,
Lord,
that we would be convicted
of our selfishness
and turned today
by the power of the Spirit
to pursue the ultimate good
of our beloved ones.
and we know
that the only way
to do that right now
is to turn our eyes
upon Jesus
to say,
I am not my own.
My goal is not me.
So,
Lord,
as we sing now,
we just ask for help.
We ask that you would
turn us away from ourselves
and give us
a reimagined vision
for beautiful marriage.
We need it.
We struggle so much,
Lord,
so I know I do,
so Lord,
help us.
We pray in Christ's name.
Amen.