3. Could still fall as hard At twenty three So honey now
Darlin’ I will
Be lovin’ you
Till we’re seventy
Baby my heart
Could still fall as hard
At twenty three
So honey now
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Place your head on my beating heart
I’m thinking out loud
That maybe we found
Love right where we are

4. Lucky girl Athina Andrelos

5. The struggle for true love
Gen 29: 15-35

6. The struggle for true love
The longing to find true love.
The consequences of such longing.
How to fill the longing for true love.

7. Jacob tries to fix his lousy life.
1 Then Jacob continued on his journey and came to the land of the eastern peoples.
10 When Jacob saw Rachel, daughter of Laban…he went over and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered his uncle’s sheep. Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep aloud.

8. Gen 29 Gen 24 Jacob looks for a wife.
The Lord had promised Jacob many offspring (28:14).
Rachel comes from Haran.
Rachel is described as beautiful.
Laban comes running to greet Jacob.
Jacob does not seek the Lord.
Abraham looks for a wife for his son via his servant.
The Lord had promised Abraham many offspring (22;17).
Rebecca comes from Haran.
Rebecca is described as beautiful.
Laban comes running to greet Abraham’s servant.
Abraham’s servant seeks the Lord.

9. 14 As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he hurried to meet him. He embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his home, and there Jacob told him all these things. Then Laban said to him, “You are my own flesh and blood.”

10. But can true love fix a lousy life?
17b Leah had weak eyes but Rachel was lovely in form, and beautiful.

11. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment…
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment….it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty….For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. 1 Peter 3:3-5
Simply the best

12. The longing to find true love.
18 Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, “I’ll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.”
Gift to bride’s family : -30 to 45 shekels.
1 month’s wage:- 1.5 shekels.
Jacob offers 4 times the normal gift to parents of bride.

13. The extend we will go to find true love
20 So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.
Grenade for love

16. Not everyone finds true love.
30b and he loved Rachel more than Leah.
God loved Leah more than Jacob ever did

17. The relentless human drive to love…and to be loved
32b “Surely my husband will love me more now.”
God loved Leah more than Jacob ever did

18. If one won’t get Leah love, surely three would..
Son No. 1: Reuben – “to see”.
“Maybe now my husband won’t treat me like I am invisible”.
Son No. 2: Simeon – “to hear”.
“Maybe now my husband will listen and talk to me more.”
Son No. 3: Levi – “to join”.
“Maybe now my husband’s heart will be more attached to me.”

20. Not your career…not your achievements…. not your comfort zone life…
Not your career…not your achievements….not your comfort zone life….but in the end it boils down to…….

21. We are all hardwired to make finding intimate relationships our highest goal in life.

22. The Leahs and Jacobs around us.
Out in the world, especially in the culture outside the church, there are a lot of people who are cynical about marriage. They don’t trust marriage, so they avoid it altogether or give themselves an easy escape by living together. Then there are people inside the church who are very much the opposite. They think, “Marriage, family, white picket fences – that is what family values are all about. That’s how you find fulfillment. That is what human life is about.” Tim Keller

23. Jacob and Leah- 2 sides of the same coin.
“If I work for 7 years I will finally get to marry my true love.”
“If I bear many sons my husband will finally love me.”
“If I sleep with him…”
“If I find success in my career….”
“If I lose weight…”
“If I was in a church with more younger people..”

24. The struggle for true love
The longing to find true love.
The consequences of such longing.
Consequences to yourself.
Consequences to others.

25. The morning when you first fell in love….
The “I am in love” experience temporarily meets one’s emotional need for love. It gives us the feeling that someone cares, that someone admires and appreciates us. Our emotions soar with the thought that another person sees us as number one, that he or she is willing to devote time and energies exclusively to our relationship. For a brief period, however long it last, our emotional need for love is met. Our tank is full: we can conquer the world. Nothing is impossible. For many individuals, it is the first time they have ever lived with a full emotional tank, and the feeling is euphoric.
Dr Gary Chapman, The 5 Love Languages.

26. “I feel like whenever I find the key to happiness someone changes the lock.”
Anonymous.

27. The morning after it’s always….
25 When morning came, there was Leah!

29. Is true love enough to weather life?
Bree Van de Kamp Lynette Scavo Susan Mayer Gabrielle Solis

30. True love and the challenges of life
Love is not our only emotional need. Psychologist have observed that among our basic needs are the need for :-
a) Security
b) Self worth
c) Significance
Love, however interfaces with all of those.
(Dr Gary Miller, The 5 Love Languages)

31. True Love and the challenges of life
Security - if I feel loved…..I may face uncertainties in challenges at work and other areas of life.
Self worth – the world may give me negative or mixed messages about my worth..but those who know and love me build my self esteem.
Significance – life is driven unconsciously by the desire to succeed. We want our lives to count for something. Feeling loved by wife, husband, parents, children, best friends, etc….enhances our sense of significance.
(Adapted from Dr. Gary Chapman, The 5 Love Languages)

32. Desperate housewives of the bible
30: 1 When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or l’ll die!”
Rachel, desperate for children. Love of husband is not enough.
Leah, desperate for husband’s attention. Love of children is not enough.
True love becomes tainted by challenges of life.

33. Most people, if they have learned to look into their own hearts, would know that they do want, and want acutely, something that cannot be had in this world. There are all sorts of things in this world that offer to give it to you, but they never quite keep their promise. The longings which arise in us when we first fall in love, or first take up some subject that excites us, are longings which no marriage, no learning, etc can really satisfy. I am not speaking of what would be ordinarily called unsuccessful marriages, or learned careers. I am speaking of the best possible ones. There was something we have grasped at, in that first moment of longing, which fades away in the reality. I think everyone knows what I mean. The spouse may be a good spouse, and you may have a very good job: but something has evaded us.
CS Lewis, Mere Christianity

34. Consequences to yourself.
You put the weight of your struggles and pain on the person you are marrying (you think it’s Rachel but in reality it’s Leah).
You become disappointed and disillusioned in things you hope will bring you happiness.
You look for other venues to find happiness- you try to find a new love to fill that longing.
You blame yourself (“I am a failure because I am not as pretty and slim as Rachel”).
You become cynical (“All men

35. “Own flesh and blood”
25b So Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? Why have you deceived me?

36. Consequences to self: reaping and sowing.
Jacob deceives Esau of his birthright. Gen 27:1-36.
Laban deceives Jacob of his wife. Gen 29: 25.
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Gal 6: 7
dallas

38. The extend of reaping and sowing.
Jacob deceives Esau of his birthright. Gen 27:1-36.
Laban deceives Jacob of his wife. Gen 29: 25.
Leah’s children deceive Jacob over Joseph’s (son of Rachel) fate. Gen 37:31-33.
dallas

39. Consequences to others
Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
Gen 25: 28.
Jacob laid with Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah.
Gen 29:30
Now Israel (Jacob) loved Joseph more than any of his other sons.
Gen 37:3
Laban robs Rachel of her marriage, Rachel robs the father.
Gen 31:19

45. How to fill the longing
35 She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” So she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.

46. Most people, if they have learned to look into their own hearts, would know that they do want, and want acutely, something that cannot be had in this world. There are all sorts of things in this world that offer to give it to you, but they never quite keep their promise. The longings which arise in us when we first fall in love, or first take up some subject that excites us, are longings which no marriage, no learning, etc can really satisfy. I am not speaking of what would be ordinarily called unsuccessful marriages, or learned careers. I am speaking of the best possible ones. There was something we have grasped at, in that first moment of longing, which fades away in the reality. I think everyone knows what I mean. The spouse may be a good spouse, and you may have a very good job: but something has evaded us.
If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world, something supernatural and eternal.
CS Lewis, Mere Christianity

47. The love of God to the girl no one loved.
35 She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” So she named him Judah.

48. Leah , the girl nobody wanted.

49. The Savior that no one wanted.

50. Filling the longing with true love that comes from God
1) How much do you love God?
Most Christians are just contented with “God loves me”.
Like Leah, we will struggle with desiring the love of those around us over the love of God.

51. Filling the longing
2) How much does your love of God shapes your love for others?
Intentional to those who are unloved – love others with the heart of God.
Gives dignity – the son of Leah becomes the line of Kings.
Shaped by grace- in the morning it’s always Leah.

52. Filling the longing
1) How much do you love God? 2) How much does your love of God shapes your love for others? 3) How much do you love your life?

53. Could still fall as hard At twenty three So honey now
Darlin’ I will
Be lovin’ you
Till we’re seventy
Baby my heart
Could still fall as hard
At twenty three
So honey now
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Place your head on my beating heart
I’m thinking out loud
That maybe we found
Love right where we are