1. Year of the Family

2. “Work at It!”
Genesis 24:1-9; 63-67

3. Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, The last of life, for which the first was made: Our times are in His hand Who saith, “A whole I planned, Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!”
poet Robert Browning

4. “… But in order for those words to become reality, husbands and wives must say grow old along with me. Do you want to grow old with your spouse? Do you really want to have a happy marriage?”

5. Contrary to what many think, “best wishes” and “good luck” have nothing to do with a happy, healthy marriage…

6. At some point, in every marriage reality will set in and the honeymoon will be over, then what? God makes clear – each of us must work at it!

7. Purpose:
to better realize the necessity of working at marriage to realize wedded bliss

8. Unless there is a willingness on both parties involved to work at making marriage what God intended it to be, there will be no wedded bliss.

9. I Consider a Marriage Made in HEAVEN
A. Look at This “Love Story”

10. Genesis 24:3-4
“And I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live, but you will go to my country and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”

11. I Consider a Marriage Made in HEAVEN
A. Look at This “Love Story”
B. Not Unlike Every Marriage

12. “A marriage may be made in heaven, but the maintenance must be done on earth.”

13. II Consider a Marriage in STAGES
A. The Honeymoon Stage

14. Song of Solomon 4:7
“You are all together beautiful, my darling, and there is no blemish in you.”

15. II Consider a Marriage in STAGES
A. The Honeymoon Stage
B. The Party’s Over Stage

16. Proverbs 27:15-16
“A constant dripping on a day of steady rain and a contentious woman are alike. He who would restrain her restrains the wind, and grasps oil with his right hand.”

17. II Consider a Marriage in STAGES
A. The Honeymoon Stage
B. The Party’s Over Stage
C. The Best is Yet to Be Stage

18. III Consider a Marriage MATURING
A. God’s Definition of Mature Love
B. Working Toward Mature Love
1. Speak Kindly

19. James 3:9-10
“With it we bless our Lord and Father; and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren these things ought not to be this way.”

20. III Consider a Marriage MATURING
A. God’s Definition of Mature Love
B. Working Toward Mature Love
1. Speak Kindly
2. Confess Openly

21. 1970 movie “Love Story” had a famous line that cropped up on bumper stickers, news columns, and worst of all became the conventional wisdom of youth in love: Love means never having to say you are sorry.”

22. James 5:16
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”

23. III Consider a Marriage MATURING
A. God’s Definition of Mature Love
B. Working Toward Mature Love
1. Speak Kindly
2. Confess Openly
3. Change Self Not Mate

24. James 4:3
“You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.”

25. Years ago, Dorothy Payne married a guy she called Jimmy
Years ago, Dorothy Payne married a guy she called Jimmy. He called her Dolly. Dolly was twenty years younger than Jimmy. She loved dressing in loud clothing and at social occasions, Dolly would grab center stage…
Dorothy Payne

26. Summary and Conclusion:
Here’s the point. Consider the marriage made in heaven… Consider the stages of marriage… Consider the making of a mature marriage… One thing stands out – for marriage to be the kind of marriage God intends you to have, you and your spouse are going to have to WORK AT IT!!