Well, in last month's sermon on the topic of marriage, I spoke about the effects of sin on marriage.
We talked about how God made marriage good, a special relationship between a man and a woman.
But then we heard about how the fall of man away from God left us bent towards selfishness and lust and pride and hardness of heart.
And how these things very quickly lead to conflict and broken relationships and the spoiling of marriage.
These things lead to, we talked about attempts to get the goodness of marriage in some other way.
And those attempts always fail and lead to ruin.
But last month I also talked about how the gospel of Jesus Christ is just what we need.
It's the remedy to sin. It's the solution to pride.
It's what we need to soften our hard hearts.
In Jesus we find freedom from both the penalty of sin and the power of sin.
We receive the Spirit of God to live in us.
And He empowers us to turn back to God's good design for marriage and sexuality.
God's Spirit enables us to walk in purity and holiness and true love.
And from there marriage can again, so long as both parties are walking humbly with Jesus,
be experienced as the good and joyful gift that God intended.
Wounds can heal as we forgive one another, just as Christ forgave us.
And this faith that we have in Jesus, it leads us to a new attitude, a new heart, a new life.
A life characterized by forgiveness and humility toward our spouses.
Of course it doesn't mean that conflict will never happen in a marriage of two Christian people.
But it means that we have what we need from God to resolve those conflicts when they happen.
And even to love without expecting anything in return.
And that makes all the difference.
Well this all leads us to our focus for this morning.
What are the foundations for a good marriage?
What are the essentials for a healthy, thriving, and happy marriage in a fallen and broken world?
And there's lots of things that we could talk about here.
There's lots of right answers to this question.
Good answers to this question.
But this morning I'm just going to focus on three.
Three foundations for a good, healthy, thriving, happy marriage in a fallen and broken world.
Foundation number one is a passionate and persevering love for God.
Having a passionate and persevering love for God makes all the difference in the world in a marriage.
We've already said that marriage is made by God and that it's a gift of God.
And since it's a gift from God, marriage is not the most important relationship in life.
Our relationship with the God who gave it to us is the most important relationship in life.
We're just about a month away from Christmas.
That time of year when many exchange gifts.
Probably most of us grew up loving Christmas.
Especially that moment when we got to unwrap the presents.
The excitement of not knowing what our parents had wrapped up for us.
Maybe a new toy under the tree was almost too much to bear.
5 a.m. couldn't come soon enough.
But all these years later as adults, do we remember each and every present we received?
From each and every person each year?
No.
But we remember the love of the people who gave them to us.
Which was far greater.
A thoughtful gift that met a deep need.
A costly gift.
Not because it was expensive.
But because the person who gave it had very little at the time.
Or perhaps a handmade gift.
Something that couldn't be bought in the store.
But you knew that a loved one had spent hours making it just the way it was for you.
These gifts are tokens of the love of a person.
But far greater than the gift is the giver of the gift.
This is how it is with marriage.
We have it wrong if, and we're missing it, if we're looking for the great companion of our souls here on earth.
In a relationship.
Even in a marriage.
Marriage is just a token.
It's just a pointer to the great relationship.
The ultimate marriage.
That we were all made for.
And that's our relationship with God.
And so, if I had to give a married person or a person seeking marriage.
One scripture passage in the whole Bible.
I would choose this one.
Matthew 22.
34 to 40.
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees.
The Pharisees got together.
One of them, an expert in the law, tested Jesus with this question.
Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?
Jesus replied,
Love the Lord your God with all your heart.
And with all your soul.
And with all your mind.
This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.
This might seem a strange scripture to go to when looking for wisdom about marriage.
But what could make for a better marriage than a strong and vibrant relationship with the God who made marriage?
What could make for a better marriage than deeply knowing and loving the God who is love?
The God whose kindness and patience and forgiveness are so powerful and beautiful.
And if we love God with all our hearts, totally and passionately,
then our earthly relationships find their proper places in our lives.
We're the best that we can be towards others.
Towards the girlfriend, the boyfriend, the fiance, or the spouse.
Nothing makes a good, healthy, thriving, happy marriage in a fallen world more
than loving God with all your heart.
And with all your soul.
And with all your mind.
How does this work?
How do we apply this?
Well, if you want to have the best marriage you can,
whether you are not yet married, dating, engaged, or married for a long time,
if you want to have the best marriage you can,
make it your life to love the Lord with all your heart.
As deeply as you can.
This changes you so deeply and profoundly
that we can't even begin to measure the good effect that it will have on your marriage relationship
now and into the future.
This brings us to a second foundation for a good, healthy, thriving, happy marriage in a fallen world.
If you are not yet married,
but looking for a lifelong companion,
a husband or wife,
look for the person who loves God with all their heart.
Look for the person who loves Jesus
even more than you.
More than anyone around you.
What they look like,
what they're interested in,
what they do for career or work,
all of that is secondary.
Do they love God
with all their heart
and with all their soul
and with all their mind?
It says this in Proverbs 31,
a wife of noble character
who can find.
She is worth
far more
than rubies.
Solomon then goes on
to list out
all the
things that she does
which show
her noble character
and then at the end of the list,
towards the end of the list,
he says this,
charm is deceptive
and beauty
is fleeting.
It flies away.
But a woman
who fears the Lord
is to be praised.
That's what to look for
in a spouse.
a man or woman
who fears the Lord.
A man or woman
of noble character.
A man or woman
who loves God
with all their heart.
With these things alone,
you can save yourself
a world
of relational
heartache
and pain.
Make it your life
to love God
passionately
with everything you've got.
and only say
I do
or ask
someone to marry you.
Someone who has
that same heart
for the Lord.
That same love
for the Lord.
That same fear
of God.
This will make
all the difference
in your life.
This makes all the difference
in marriage.
It makes all the difference
in a family.
because God
is love.
He is life.
He's everything.
And if we walk
continually with Him
loving Him
with all we've got
everything is affected
for the best.
And so that's
foundation one.
Love the Lord your God
with all your heart.
The first key
to a thriving marriage.
And foundation two.
If you're not yet married
say I do
only
to someone
who shares
that love for God.
And I want to expand
on this a little
and I know that
many of you here
are already married
and have made that choice.
And these words
maybe
had envisioned
a few more people
who are unmarried
here in the audience today
but
maybe there's some people
you know
who you can share
this wisdom with
who are unmarried
or who are thinking
about marriage.
It's wise
to look for the person
who loves God
the most
but maybe you might wonder
what if that person
is already taken?
What if there's no one
my age around me
who loves God
like that?
Or who shares
my faith
like that?
And there can be
this powerful temptation
to settle for less.
To go for a person
who loves you
but who doesn't
love Jesus.
Never settle for less
when it comes to choosing
who you will marry.
Listen to these words
of wisdom
from the Apostle Paul
as he wrote to the church
in Corinth.
Do not be yoked together
with unbelievers.
For what do righteousness
and wickedness
have in common?
Or what fellowship
can light
have with darkness?
What harmony
is there between
Christ and Belial?
Or what does a believer
have in common
with an unbeliever?
What agreement
is there
between the temple
of God
and idols?
For we are the temple
of the living God.
As God has said
I will live with them
and walk among them
and I will be their God
and they will be
my people.
Therefore
come out from them
and be separate
says the Lord.
Now Paul's main
application here
is not marriage.
This is actually
about compromise.
It's about
welcoming into the church
as brothers and sisters
those
who worship
idols
and false gods.
And Paul's saying
don't do that.
Don't be joined together
with unbelieving
idol
worshiping people.
Come out from them
and be separate
from them.
You belong to God
now.
You belong to Christ.
You can't have
a true union
and a deep fellowship
with those
who don't share
in that faith
in Christ.
It's like trying
to mix
light
and darkness
together.
it's like
trying to say
that Christ
Jesus
our king
can live
in harmony
with Belial.
That's another
name for the devil.
Paul's main
application here
is not marriage
but the principle
that he gives
fits perfectly
with marriage.
If you shouldn't
invite unbelievers
who have a different
religion
to join
the church
as members
and to be part
of the church
family
then you shouldn't
invite an unbeliever
who has a different
religion than you
to be part of
your family
and to
join with you
in marriage.
Do not be
yoked together
with unbelievers
says the Lord.
And that word
yoked
it comes from
the way they used
to do things
back in ancient
times.
They used
oxen
or donkeys
to plow
and to
pull carts
and other
things
and the
yoke
is that
harness
that goes
between
the two
animals
and keeps
them together
so that they
can pull
or work
in unison.
And the
term that
Paul uses
here is
actually
difficult to
translate into
English.
It means
to yoke
together two
different species
of animal
like a donkey
and an ox
at the same
time.
One translation
says do not
be mismatched
with unbelievers
or do not
be unevenly
yoked
or unequally
yoked.
What do you
think would
happen if you
try to drive
a wagon
pulled by
an ox
and a donkey?
It's going
to be nothing
but frustration
or chaos.
They're two
different animals.
They have
different sizes.
They have
different strides.
They have
different temperaments.
The ox
is stronger.
If he
pulls harder
than the donkey
well the wagon
is going to
go to one
side.
And donkeys
are known to
be stubborn
and they
might just
drag their
feet.
You're not
going to get
where you
want to go.
It just
won't work.
That's the
picture that
Paul is
trying to
give us
here.
That's what
happens when
believers join
themselves to
unbelievers.
And this has
played itself
out time and
time again in
dating relationships
and marriages.
If you don't
have the same
faith in Jesus,
the same
heart for
Jesus,
the same
love for
God,
it's going
to be a
frustrating or
chaotic
disaster.
There's going
to be a lot
of conflict.
If you're a
believer and
they're not,
how's this
going to
work?
One of you
will be
pulling one
way towards
God and
the other
will be
pulling the
other way
away from
God.
And it
affects every
aspect of a
marriage and
life, whether
or not you do
family devotions
together and
pray together,
whether or not
you all go to
church.
The kids
will grow up
getting mixed
messages from
mom and dad.
One of them
says, this is
really important,
you need to
do this, we
need to believe
in Jesus, and
the other says,
yeah, kind of,
but not really.
It affects the
priorities of the
marriage and the
family, how you
spend your time as
a family, your
finances, and the
list goes on.
A boyfriend or
girlfriend might
say, they don't
care what you
believe, they'll
go along with
you.
You can have
faith and live
for God however
you want, I'll
just go along
with you.
But if Christ
doesn't live in
their heart, then
it's like trying to
have fellowship,
light having
fellowship with
darkness.
That's what Paul
says, it's like
two different types
of animals pulling
in opposite
directions, it
won't work.
many marriages
blow apart
because of this.
Sometimes the
unbelieving spouse
will go along
with the believing
spouse for a
while.
Sometimes the
believer will
give up the
fight and
compromise even
more, which has
a devastating
effect on the
soul, and on
the marriage, and
on the children.
And so if you're
not yet married,
do not be
yoked together.
with an
unbeliever.
Paul gives no
middle ground
here.
He says you're
either a believer
or you're not.
You're an
unbeliever.
You're either a
follower of Christ
or a follower of
the devil, Belial.
There's only two
camps.
The devil is the
default, though the
world doesn't
realize it.
There's no
middle ground.
Do not be
yoked.
Do not be
joined or
mated or
mismatched with
an unbeliever
in dating or
in marriage.
It's far
better to stay
single than
to be stuck
together with
someone whose
heart cannot
be one with
yours in
Christ.
So these are
two things,
two foundations
for a good,
solid,
thriving,
happy marriage
in a fallen
world.
Love God with
all your heart,
heart, with
all your soul
and with all
your mind,
and only say
I do to
someone who
loves God
like that
too.
And then the
last one for
today, a
third foundation.
Marriage was
designed by God
to be a
permanent
covenant
union.
A
permanent
covenant
union.
Why do a
man and
woman exchange
vows at a
wedding?
Probably many
people today think
it's just
tradition.
Something that
you say to
show the other
person that
you're serious
and that you
really mean it
and that this
is a special
relationship that
you hope will
last.
Sadly, many
engaged couples
give little
thought to their
marriage vows.
many of them
just show up
at the wedding
and they're so
focused on the
dress and the
decorations and
the flowers,
everything that's
going on.
And then they
have that moment
at the front with
the officiating
pastor where they
repeat after him,
hopefully I don't
mess up my words.
And a year later,
do they even
remember what they
promised?
What they vowed
to the other
person?
We love those
words for
better or for
worse, for
richer or for
poorer, in
sickness and
in health.
But then how
many even
stop to think
seriously over
what they mean?
You are
promising love
and loyalty no
matter the
circumstance and
no matter the
outcome.
If men and
women really
understood their
vows and took
them seriously,
would we even
consider divorce
divorce as an
option?
Wouldn't we
seek every help
from God and
man to work
through the
conflict and
fix what's
become broken
in a marriage?
I think our
culture is losing
this understanding
of marriage as a
permanent covenant
union.
what does
permanent mean?
What does
till death do
us part
mean?
This is the
kind of
relationship
marriage was
made to be.
And the
covenant
nature of it
isn't just
tradition, it
comes from the
Bible.
It comes from
God.
There's lots of
passages that talk
about it, or I
should say several,
where we could
see it, but we're
just going to
look at one
quickly this
morning.
From the last
Old Testament
prophet, the
book of
Malachi.
Malachi chapter
2 verse 10, I'll
read it and then
we'll pull a couple
things out of it.
This is Malachi
speaking.
He says to the
people of Israel,
do we not all
have one father?
Did not one
God create us?
Why do we
profane the
covenant of our
ancestors by
being unfaithful
to one another?
Judah has been
unfaithful.
A detestable
thing has been
committed in
Israel and in
Jerusalem.
Judah has
desecrated the
sanctuary the
Lord loves by
marrying women
who worship a
foreign God.
As for the
man who does
this, whoever
he may be, may
the Lord remove
him from the
tents of Jacob,
even though he
brings an offering
to the Lord
Almighty.
Another thing
you do, you
flood the Lord's
altar with tears.
You weep and
wail because he
no longer looks
with favor on
your offerings or
accepts them with
pleasure from your
hands.
Godly, you
ask, why?
It is because the
Lord is witness
between you and
the wife of your
youth.
You have been
unfaithful to her,
though she is
your partner, the
wife of your
marriage covenant.
Has not the one
God made you?
You belong to him
in body and
spirit.
And what does
the one God
seek?
Godly offspring.
So be on your
guard and do not
be unfaithful to
the wife of your
youth.
The man who
hates and divorces
his wife, says
the Lord, the
God of Israel, does
violence to the
one he should
protect, says the
Lord Almighty.
So be on your
guard and do not
be unfaithful.
Now this is a
difficult place in
the Bible to just
jump in and start
reading.
You might be
wondering what's
going on here,
what God is
talking about.
There's been this
long history of
relationship between
God and the
people of Israel.
God has shown
unbelievable patience
and kindness and
mercy towards them.
And yet the
people of Israel
on the whole are
continuing to turn
away from God.
I'm not going to
go over the whole
story and all the
details.
But God sends
this man, Malachi,
to be his
spokesperson to the
people and to
bring his message
to them.
And the overall
message of God to
them is, you have
been unfaithful to
me.
Repent and turn
back to me.
Return to me.
And so here in
chapter 2, God is
speaking through
Malachi and he's
kind of telling them
the hard truth.
They have profaned
the covenant that
their ancestors made
with God by doing
a number of wicked
things.
And then he starts
naming them and
listing them.
The descendants of
Judah, he says,
have married women
who worship foreign
gods.
And then they try to
appease the Lord by
offering sacrifices to
him at the temple
and almost like we
haven't done anything
wrong or if we have
you could just
forgive us, right?
Malachi tells them
in verse 13 that
God no longer looks
with favor on their
offerings or accepts
them.
And the reason is
given in verse 14.
You ask why?
It is because the
Lord is witness
between you and the
wife of your youth.
You have been
unfaithful to her,
though she is your
partner, the wife of
your marriage covenant.
And so what the men
of Judah have done,
they were already
married.
They had wives of
their youth, which
wives from among
their own people,
and then they were
unfaithful to those
wives.
They went and married
other women from the
pagan, idol-worshiping
peoples around them.
And there's really
two massive problems
with this.
The first problem is
what we were just
talking about.
The problem of
becoming unequally
yoked together with
someone who doesn't
have the same faith
as you.
This is a massive
problem.
And if we go back in
the story of Israel,
we see that this has
been a problem for
centuries.
Solomon himself is
the most prominent
example of it.
Let me just read you a
snippet from his
story in 1 Kings
chapter 11.
King Solomon,
however, loved many
foreign women besides
Pharaoh's daughter,
Moabites, Ammonites,
Edomites, Sidonians,
and Hittites.
They were from nations
about which the Lord
had told the Israelites,
you must not
intermarry with them
because they will
surely turn your
hearts after their
gods.
Nevertheless, Solomon
held fast to them in
love.
He had 700 wives of
royal birth and 300
concubines, and his
wives led him astray.
As Solomon grew old,
wives turned his heart
after other gods, and
his heart was not fully
devoted to the Lord his
God as the heart of
David his father had
been.
He followed Ashtoreth,
the goddess of the
Sidonians, and Molech,
the detestable god of the
Ammonites.
So Solomon did evil in the
eyes of the Lord.
He did not follow the
Lord completely, as David
his father had done.
It goes on from there to
describe the consequences
of Solomon's actions.
As punishment for this
sin, God took the kingdom
away from Solomon, except
one or two tribes that was
taken from his son.
This sin of marrying all
these wives who worshipped
other gods is what led to
the ruin of Solomon's great
kingdom.
It's what eventually led
Israel to be punished by
God later and go into
exile.
Now they've just come back
into the land from exile not
too long ago, and they're
doing it again in the days of
Malachi.
They're marrying women who
worship other gods.
And if even the great wise
King Solomon was not able to
keep his heart devoted to the
Lord, but compromised, so will
these men in Malachi's day.
Again, we see this clear
principle from God that we're
not to be joined in marriage to
those who don't share our faith
in God.
But that's just one of the
problems.
The second problem Malachi brings
up is that these women who
worship foreign gods are not
their first wives.
In order to get with these
pagan women, what did they do?
Glance down to verse 16.
They divorced their first
wives.
These men, each of them, did
not keep the marriage covenant
they had made with the wife of
their youth.
They divorced their first wives
so that they could marry these
women who worship foreign gods.
What God emphasizes here more
than anything else is the
unfaithfulness of this and the
betrayal of this.
You have been unfaithful to her
though she is your partner, the
wife of your marriage covenant.
God saying, you made a covenant with
her.
You made solemn vows to her.
She became your partner, your wife
and you've betrayed her.
You've broken your vows to her.
You've been unfaithful.
We look down to verse 16.
God basically says, by divorcing her,
you have hated the one that you
pledged to love.
By sending her away, you have done
violence to the one that you should
protect.
The marriage relationship is a
covenant relationship.
We see that so clearly here.
It's a relationship built on vows that
are sworn to one another and
witnessed by God.
And this is what makes the
relationship special.
This is what makes the relationship
permanent.
It's the vows.
It's that covenant between man and
woman.
I think in our culture today, though,
we've lost the meaning of covenant.
Promises are made and broken all the
time.
Agreements are signed and agreements
are broken all the time.
We barely have an idea of what
covenant is anymore.
One of the ways that we can get back
to the meaning of covenant is to go
into the Bible and we can read the
story of how God made a covenant
with Abraham.
We're not going to do that this
morning.
You can do that and see it in
Genesis 15.
But basically, what they did in those
days to make a covenant, they
chopped a bunch of animals in half.
And then they took the halves and
separated them.
They made their vows to each other.
This is what I'm going to do.
And then together, the two parties
walked through the animal halves.
And the symbolism of that was
basically, if I fail to do that,
to keep my promise to you, my vow to
you, then may God do to me what we
just did to these animals.
That was the seriousness of covenant
in the ancient times.
It was the most serious form of
agreement or promise you could make.
You're basically binding yourselves
to fulfill your promise by a curse.
May God cut me in pieces if I fail to
do what I have promised.
And so obviously, you were very
careful about what you promised
when you entered into an arrangement
like that.
And you made every effort to do what
you promised, no matter how things
went.
Now, of course, they didn't do this
particular ancient ritual at weddings.
But weddings also involved the making
of a covenant between a man and a
woman.
And that's why we have those wonderful
words that we have in weddings today.
I take you to be my wife or husband,
to have and to hold from this day
forward, for better or for worse,
for richer or for poorer,
in sickness and in health,
to love and to cherish,
forsaking all others till death do us part.
These are the words of covenant.
The most serious of vows that we can
make to another person.
That's what God was upset with the
Israelites about in the days of
Malachi.
It is because the Lord is the witness
between you and the wife of your
youth.
You have been unfaithful to her,
though she is your partner,
the wife of your marriage covenant.
In other words, you made binding vows to
love and to be loyal to your first wife.
And then you broke them when you
divorced them so that you could marry
another.
And so this is foundation number three
for a strong, healthy, thriving and
happy marriage in a fallen world.
We need to know that marriage was made
to be permanent.
We need to know that it's a covenant
relationship.
It's about persevering in faithfulness,
no matter the troubles or trials,
no matter the circumstances that face us.
Marriage, of course, is about love,
but not the flimsy come and go feeling
of love.
In the words of a favorite song of mine,
marriage is about a love that's a
loyalty sworn, not a burning for a
moment.
Marriage is built on the promise that
God makes to his people.
Come what may, I won't abandon you.
I will never leave you or forsake you.
So practically, what does that mean?
It means that for those who are
unmarried, dating is looking for the
person who you will make that
covenant with.
Engagement is the process of
preparing to make that covenant
with the person that you've pledged
yourself to.
And for those of us who are already
married, it means that there should be
no romantic thought or attention
given to others of the opposite sex.
We have made our covenant.
We have made our choice.
We have sworn our love and loyalty to
one.
And deliberately going back on that is
unfaithfulness.
Very practically speaking, for those of
you who are married, there are certain
things that you can do, or I should say
avoid doing, which will help in your
marriage.
No matter how tough things get or how
deep the conflict, never threaten to
divorce your spouse.
Don't even mention or suggest it as an
option.
Though the feelings may run hot, though
anger burns, or the heart aches, though
the tears flow, let your spouse be sure of
one thing.
That you meant what you said when you
stood at the altar on your wedding day, and
that you will not leave them or forsake
them.
There are certain things that when they
are done or said, deeply hurt a spouse.
And if we believe in marriage as a
permanent covenant union, then we should
never do these things.
Ever.
And if we've done them, we need to
apologize to our spouses and let them
know that by the grace of God, we'll
never do them again.
Never express to your spouse that you
regret marrying them, or that you wish
you could go back and choose
differently.
Never do anything that symbolizes your
going back on your vows or your
marriage, your word.
Friends of mine years ago got into a
fight on their honeymoon, during which
they yelled at each other, swore at each
other, then took off their wedding
rings and threw them at each other.
I was amazed that their marriage lasted
past that fight.
Never do anything that symbolizes your
going back on your word.
Never even consider getting with another
man or woman while you're married.
Don't even allow yourself to entertain
the thought for a moment of what it would
be like to be married to someone else.
There is no one else if you are married.
When you have marital conflict, it's
sometimes needed to have some space and
time from each other, time to pray and
time to think, time to cool off.
If you leave the room from a fight, let
your spouse know that you'd need time and
space, but that you'll be back.
In Ephesians 4.26, it says,
Do not let the sun go down while you are
still angry, and do not give the devil a
foothold.
If you leave the house after an argument
or fight, always come back before
tomorrow.
The devil would love to ruin your
marriage.
Don't give him the opportunity.
Think of what that communicates to a
person when you leave the fight with no
explanation, slam the door, get in the
car and drive away.
Think of what it communicates if a spouse
begins packing their bags in the middle
of an argument.
God is witness between you and your
spouse, and he desires faithfulness from
each of you to the other, to the marriage
covenant that you have made.
So three foundations for a strong,
healthy marriage.
love God with all your heart.
Only say, I do, to those who love God with
all their heart.
Do not be yoked with unbelievers, and stay
faithful to the marriage covenant that you
have made.
Let's pray and ask the Lord for his grace in
living us out.
Father in heaven, we thank you for your wisdom that
comes from your word.
And we think of each marriage that's represented
in this room.
And we ask for your power to love our spouses the
way that you have loved us.
Help us to keep our vows and to be faithful to one
another.
Lord, we also want to pray for those who are not
yet married in this room.
And we ask that you would raise their vision of
marriage to something that resembles what you
intended.
That they would desire to be married in this kind
of marriage that you have revealed, and not the
kind that our world puts forward.
We ask that you would give self-control and
wisdom to our young people and our children as they
begin to make those decisions.
And as people come into their lives.
Lord, we think of those whose marriages are in a
really difficult spot right now.
And we pray for every grace for them and for their
spouses.
And we ask that you would bring reconciliation and
restoration.
And we think of those whose marriages have come to an
end.
And we're reminded that our ultimate relationship for
which we were made is the one with you.
And we thank you for that.
We just commit ourselves to your grace.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.