You are invited to view your relationships as a living reflection of God's profound love for you. Let grace be the foundation of your home as you grow together. Know that your earthly marriage points to an eternal union with Christ.
Happy Valentine's Day, church. My name is David John Phillips. I have the honor of being the pastor at Real Church, and thank you for tuning in to our podcast today. We are continuing with part 7 of the I love you series. Today was amazing.
And I would encourage you to go to our website, realchurch.us. Check out the video for today because we had a wedding *ceremony* during worship. It was amazing. Now I got to do the message with my wife today, and we just kinda went back and forth, just kinda some "real talk" on what marriage looks like and and where we miss it and how to move forward in that and what the Bible says about it. It's gonna be fun.
You're gonna enjoy. Check it out. Alright. So, with that, we are it's Valentine's Day. Happy Valentine's Day, by the way.
We're continuing a series we've been doing for quite some time. This is actually part 7 of the series, the I Love You series. And, I just want to give you once again the premise, the reason we're doing this series. And, it's found in *1 John-4* and verse 9. Hello?
The phone's the phone's telling me hello over there. The 1 John-4:9, it says, this is how God showed His love among us. He sent His 1 and only Son into the world that we might live through him. It's not just for the "sweet by and by". You don't just say a prayer 1 day so that you can get to heaven and go live however you want.
No, we enter into relationship with him so that we might live through him, so that we might walk with him day in and day out. It's not just a bunch of religious mumbo jumbo and we come here on a Sunday morning going about our day. No, it's a relationship that's real and impacts every aspect or of our life. And, if it doesn't, then maybe the relationship's not real. You know?
It it That that's a big deal. God has forever declared his love for you in sending his son Jesus Christ to die in your place for your sin, but also to rise again so that you can experience his life here and now, day in and day out, not just at church, but on on Monday night or Tuesday night when when it's stressful in your home, on on Wednesday night when when you realize that this is going on, or you're about to lose your job, or this, that, and the other. No. God wants to walk with you and live in you, and help you to experience all of the circumstances of life knowing his love despite what life brings at you. It's awesome.
So, God has forever declared his love for for you in that. Verse 10 says, this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sin. I love you. The title of that is God saying I love you. So, we have no excuse to doubt his love ever again.
None. The only reason that we would is number 1, ignorance, which is not knowing. But, you know now. I told you. Yay.
So, now, the only other excuse would be unbelief. I believe what circumstances say over what you say. And, when that happens, what do we do? We go back to what hi"s word" says. We say, Father, help my unbelief.
Because we don't wanna be unbelieving believers anymore. And, if we struggle with that, then what do we do? We get around other Christians. That's why we go to church to encourage and exhort 1 another into relationship with Christ. So, so their faith can help me walk through my mess, and I can realize that Jesus is walking through this mess with me again.
Take my eyes off of the circumstance. Get around somebody that's gonna take your chin and point it up to Jesus Christ. Amen? So God has forever declared, I love you. And then in 1 John-4:19, when we see that, the Bible says, we love because he first loved us.
So our ability to love, and I'm not talking about just this emotional feel good type thing that that, you know, goes when I'm not satisfied and now you're not a part of my you know, now I'm just going my own way because you don't satisfy my needs anymore, so I don't love you anymore. That's not love. That's emotion. I'm talking about love, **self sacrificial love**. We love because he first loved us.
So, when we see his love for us and we believe it, we receive it, now his love begins to pour out of us and impact everyone around us, and it's awesome. So, the premise of the series is how do we say, I love you too, God, now that we know he loves us? We've talked about it in how we say I love you too through prayer, through fasting, through worship. We talked about prayer again because it's conversation with him. You know, it's not just throwing a bunch of things at him, but it's also listening.
Because if he's really the God of the universe and he really loves you and really wants relationship with you, then you can really have a relationship with him where you hear his voice. You know? Yeah. You know, that's that's awesome. And it's not just for the pastor, but it's for you.
You know? So, how do we say I love you too? We we talked about it in worship, and we talked about it in covenant relationships last week. But today, I thought, you know what? We're gonna talk about it in marriage.
How do we say I love you too in marriage? Now, if you're not married, then this is still for you. Maybe you will be married 1 day, or maybe you've been married in the past and and can think back and move forward, and knowing that the Bible depicts our relationship with *God* as a marriage. Right? Marriage is supposed to reflect our earthly marriage is supposed to reflect the way that God loves us, which is awesome.
So, with that being said, I am going to invite my wife, not yet in a second, almost, but she's amazing.
She's so excited.
Yeah. Baby, would you stand up? Look at her. She's gorgeous. That's my beautiful wife.
We have been Okay. You can come. I won't make you stand out all the time.
Figure out of eyes.
You probably do. We've been married. So, well, we we got together, started dating in on 02/12/2003. Yeah. 2 days before Valentine's Day.
Right? So, it's been 18 years now, which is awesome. And, it it it hasn't grown stale. But, as we understand, as I understand more and more of who God is and how much he loves me, it helps me to understand, man, how I should love her. And, it's actually gotten more rich.
We got married. So, that's when we started dating. I was a junior in high school at that time. We got married when I was 20, and on 12/16/2006. I'm moving slow now because I don't wanna get it wrong.
Because then, I'll be in a doghouse. Which would make it 14 years. And, you guys that have been coming know a little bit of our story, that that may or may not come out a little bit in this. But, I just wanted to have a conversation with her about marriage with you guys. Not in any way saying we have everything figured out because we're growing in this thing just like you are.
But, just communicating transparently, that's a part of our core values. Being open and honest about, you know, what God has done and is doing in our marriage. And and hopefully, testimonies here will will inspire and encourage you. And and, maybe, you can think back to 10 years ago when you learned these lessons or maybe it'll help you to learn these lessons if you haven't learned them yet, you know. So, with that being said, why you guys give her a big old hand?
She's awesome. I'll start with the first question. Beautiful. What is the most challenging aspect of being married to to me? No.
To you. No. What is the most challenging We'll start. What is the most challenging aspect of of marriage in general?
So, so you know, we've walked through, like, we've gone through the notes and things. This isn't off the cuff, but you never know. Semi. You never know when it comes to us. Yeah.
I was thinking about what I think is the most challenging, but it's also a good thing, is how different we are. And, you know, like, people say opposites attract, like, how magnets work. I'm not I don't know. I just know that that's a phrase I've heard before, but David and I are "polar opposites" as far as everything. Like, you get, like, used to I mean, I guess, when we were first together, it was 2003, 2000 yeah, 2003, and when we would read magazines, and there would be those, I mean, all the teenage girls that were girls in the early 2 thousands, late nineties, would read the magazines that had the little tests and it was like, are you compatible?
Do you all remember those? Yeah. Okay. The guys were like, what? Well, I was just making sure.
We were not compatible at all. And I'll give you a funny example that I don't understand, and I've had to learn that it's okay that I don't understand why he is the way that he is. And some of you can probably relate to this. So just picture, and I told him I'm gonna share this. Like, we're so different.
Going through this, we've learned how different we are. At the end of a long day, like, picture, I'm up in the morning. I have 3 kids. I also work for the church. I also sometimes work for a preschool and and doing ministry and family and all of that, like, everything that I have.
Picture the end of the day. I'm exhausted and I'm ready. I'm just it's like 07:00. We're getting the kids ready for bed. It's 08:00, kids are in the bed, and I just hit the couch and I'm like, I am so tired.
David had the same kind of day, like like, all day long, morning to night, and he hits the couch. He's like, I'm tired too. I'm like, man, I just wanna curl up, turn on the TV, eat some tacos in the bed, like, that's my that's my go to for resting. The Bible says, and I can confirm that I'm right, the Bible says, listen, the bible says Look that. To me when you're weary and I will give you what?
Rest. It makes sense when you're tired to rest. David's like, yeah, I'm exhausted too. I'm gonna go for a run. Does not compute with me.
And for a long time, that caused so much conflict because he would want me to go run and I'm like, I'm not running unless something's chasing me. And then I would want him come watch TV
with What's that what's that verse you always quote for?
There's a bible verse in, like, Proverbs that says, only a fool runs when he's not being chased. And so I'm like, I'd go with that. That's scripture that'll preach. But we're so different. We're so different, but I'm learning that his personality, God made him this way, and it's a good thing.
But for me, when I'm thinking of myself, like, what I want, like, I want you to be more like me. If you were just more like me, things would be better. And then, in a long time ago, like, he was the same way. Like, if you would be more like me, things would be better, and that's just not the case all the time.
No. Compatibility, like, everybody in the in the world today, you gotta be compatible to be happy. Right? To have a happy marriage, to have a happy relationship, you gotta be compatible. That's what that's what culture will tell you, but that is a farce.
It's it's not true. You you look at nature, God's characteristics, who he is, is clearly seen throughout nature. Okay? And and there's something, this miracle that he instituted in nature called synergy. You know what synergy is?
Right? It's if if you have the the the **sum of 2 parts** put together, or the product of 2 parts is greater than the sum of of the 2 parts. Meaning, for instance, like, if she were to to work on something and be able to do 10, and I were to work on something and be able do 10, we add those 2 things together, you're supposed to get 20. But, if we work on it together in unity, then all of a sudden, you get more like 40 or 50, the output. It's this miracle that God has put into nature called synergy, and it's because God desires unity and our differences actually come together in order to make us more effective, not less effective, if we're able to unify, which is awesome.
So, synergy is so important. And, in that though, we have to learn not to control each other in order to force the other 1 to be just like me. You have to do what I want you to do in order for me to be happy. That is just not marriage and it's not the way that God has created it because our relationship is supposed to "mirror the relationship" that he has with us, which is completely different than that.
Yep. And you were gonna reference *James-4*
Mhmm.
Actually about what were you referencing from James-4?
Good question. Alright. James-4.
I use my phone. He uses his bible. See, we're different.
Yeah. James-4 says this, what causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come out of your desires that battle within you? You desire, but you do not have, so you kill. A lot of times in marriage, in relationships, we kill with our words.
Right? You covet, which is I'm I want what somebody else has, but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. And, when you ask, you do not receive because you ask with the wrong motives that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. So, let me just break it down for you.
Basically, that's saying, every quarrel and fight that you have, whether it's in marriage or in any relationship, is because of selfishness. Yeah. Amen. Every fight that you've ever had is because of selfishness. Well, wait a second.
They were they were the ones being selfish. Did you prop did you make the fight continue? You were being selfish too. Guess what? It takes 2 to tango.
It takes 2 to fight, but it only takes 1 to seek peace.
But, how do we do that? Matthew-16:24. Oh, really? You got it. I'm getting there.
I'm still learning But, Matthew-16:24, and I have to do notes. I'm so sorry. But whenever we're following Jesus as disciples in our relationships, what do we do? We deny ourselves. Our life is not our own.
We deny ourselves in our relationships. We deny ourselves, like, in our marriage, in our friendships, in our work relationships. That is difficult, and I understand that. But I think it's most difficult, and it gives us the best practice to do it within our families, our marriages, and just I was gonna reference like the car ride to church for ladies with kids because y'all know like going to church, you like you're like, stop fighting. Don't ask me for food.
Like, don't ask anybody else for food. I know mister Kim's gonna have candy at church, but don't you expect it like there's just this on the way to church now. This is not me talking about my parents, this is talking about me, and and I am learning, I'm still learning to deny myself and and take up my cross of parenthood and love my children well on the way to church. But when we get to church, it's like, you better make sure we look like a good family, like we've got our stuff together. And that was the that was what I was gonna reference.
Like, practicing in the relationships where we're most comfortable is how we learn to walk this thing of denying ourselves out.
And where you're most comfortable, that's where that's the real you. Yeah. You know? So, if you you wanna gauge your relationship with Jesus, look at how you treat your wife
Yep.
Or how you treat your husband. And and and just to to piggyback on what we were talking about is, the Bible says love does not seek its own. That means there's no selfishness in love. Yep. Selfishness is not love.
So, in that, you know, we we have this this issue in culture today that we wake up for our own personal well-being. But, we're supposed to wake up to shine his glory. You know, we have this this thing, I'm supposed to seek my own well-being, but we're created to be born again and seek his glory and his alone. So, a lot of times in our relationships, that heart position reflects that. And so, in our marriage, we're seeking our own well-being and our own satisfaction, but it's at the expense of the other and that's not love.
Love lays down itself for the other. And so now, because of that, you have quarrels, you have fights, you have you have arguments, you have screaming, you have this, you have that and the other because of selfishness. And, Jesus said, like she said, anybody who wants to be my disciple must deny them
Self. Selfishness.
There is no selfishness in love. And, as we understand his love for us more, that wait a second. Jesus didn't die on the cross for us to be right. Jesus did Jesus didn't die so that you could be right. So, you need to give up your right to be right.
Jesus died on the cross for you to be righteous and right standing with him. Right? So so, in that then, let let let's say if Jesus died to be right, everybody else was wrong. Jesus had never messed up in his whole life. He never sinned.
So, if he died to be right, he'd have been on the cross, and they would have been all screaming at him. He's like, God, I'm tired of this. Like, heavenly Father, I am tired. You know what? They're wrong.
They do not deserve this. I'm done. And, he would have gotten off the cross. He didn't die to be right. He died so you could lay down your He laid down his selfishness, so that he could live in you and teach you to lay down your right to be right, and walk in righteousness, and lay down yourself, and seek peace in the midst of the battle.
And,
just being transparent, we're still learning this. I wasn't gonna reference this and then I was like, you just went there.
Alright.
Come on.
Lord *Jesus*.
I gotta go there.
Bring it. Transparency?
I I don't know if this is a Louisiana saying or if y'all say this. You ever heard the saying "eat crow"? Oh, yeah. Okay. You like you have to like, oh, that foot tastes really bad in my mouth.
Yesterday, I was tired yesterday. I'm pregnant. I've been working all week. I was just tired, and then, like, there was 1 thing after another, and we go out to the van, and, and and y'all will probably never see me like this, but he is I'm most comfortable with him. I I take off any kind of mask.
I don't wanna wear a mask with people, but I take off any kind of front that I have with him. And we we get out to the van and he was like, baby, are you okay? I was like, no. I'm not okay. You did this and you did this.
And he was like Okay. He goes he goes, I did the dishes. Like, he was
like, he
was just so caught up guard.
I did. I did. Good job,
Abby. Good job. Yeah. But but biblically, how do we deal with when our emotions are taking over? How do we deal with with loving 1 another?
Like, what is our biblical response? Because yesterday, my response was not biblical. My response yesterday was very "very churchy word", but it was "very flesh". It was very much visceral, and and I wasn't being led by Holy Spirit in my words. I was angry, and I was mad, and I was emotional, and I let that take over in how I communicated with him.
So biblically, how do we counter that? How do we learn to lay ourselves down for 1 another?
It goes back to scripture. It always does. Yep. You know, the scripture has the answers for for life and and reading scripture in relationship, not as just a code of rules and list of laws, but Yeah. Reading in relationship with with God that he wants to live this through you.
Right? So, Ephesians-5:25, and I'll I'll just I'll go to the husbands. It's gonna be fun. But, it says, husbands love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. That's our role, husbands.
It's laying our life down for our wives in the same way that Christ loved us. It's our love for our bride is supposed to be a picture of Christ's love for the church. Yeah. Laying your life down, being willing to do that. That's big.
It goes it goes on to say, to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word. So, how does God I mean, and and this this is something that Jesus slapped me in the face with, you know, in the first 6 years of our marriage. And, you know, that that moment when I've we shared in our testimony when everything was healed, like, this is like 1 of the first things that God hit me with. Because, honestly, my words tore her down. They didn't build her up, You know, I I I spoke in the first 6 years of our marriage and learned, increasingly learned to shift, and I'm still learning.
But but, my words beat her down and tried to get what I wanted. It was selfishness. It wasn't love. But, what does Jesus do for us when we mess up? Jesus reminds us of who we are in him.
His word is, you're the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. You're forgiven. You're loved. You're my son. You're my daughter.
I don't even see that mistake because I see my blood washing you clean. I love you. Let's get back up. It's the enemy that's constantly condemning us. So, when we're constantly condemning our wives, we're playing the enemy's role.
You know? So, our role is to speak what God says about her. That's it. So, you know, and and just being real honest, like, guys know God delivered me, or most of you do. If you don't, bombshell.
Hey, you know, the first 6 of our years of our marriage, I struggled with pornography. Right? And, this it's this wanting what you don't what you don't have type of thing. But, God delivered me all in an instant, but he had to shift my mindset. Because my words to her were everything that I saw.
And, my my my my eyes were all on the imperfections, on what she's not doing, what she doesn't look like, all of the stuff, not realizing that she's amazing. So, when God began to shift my mindset and I had to wash her with the water of the word, and he began to teach me those things, I would even when my feelings were different because my mind had been focused on what I don't have for so long, even when my eyes saw different because my mind had been focused on what I don't have for so long, I began to speak what God said about her even even then. So, I would maybe focus on a flaw, and I would say, you're the most beautiful thing in the world. Not as a sarcastic remark, but but with every strength of sincerity that I could muster up. You're the most She didn't know I was doing this, by the way.
But, you're the most beautiful thing in the world that God created just for me. Thank you. I'm so happy that I get to be your husband. Things like that. Know, baby, you're such an amazing mother.
Even when she had just met Baby, you're such an amazing mother. Not even focusing on the mistake. God created you as this amazing wife and woman of my children. Thank you so much that I get to be your husband and help you raise these children. I mean, and just the little things and the big things.
And as I begin to speak what God said about her, guess what God did? "God renewed my eyes". I start to see her I started to see her differently. God changed my feelings. Why?
Because your your feelings are a product of your thoughts. And when you start thinking what God says about her, guess what? Your feelings will shift and you'll begin to love her and feel the same way towards her that God says. What if we changed our words and and started looking at scripture instead of just saying what we feel all the time, saying what he says? And to present her why did why does Jesus do this for the church?
To present her, to present us to himself as a radiant church** without stain or wrinkle or blemish, but holy and blameless. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
So David spent a few minutes talking to the husbands, and I'm gonna talk about a controversial word. At least in 2021, it's controversial. I don't think it should be controversial. It's scriptural when we look at it through the lens of Jesus.
Might have to read the scripture on this 1.
Yeah. I'm gonna I'm gonna prove it to you that it's in the Bible. But, don't run out of here mad at me. I'm gonna I'm gonna clear it up. Before verse 25 yeah.
Before verse 25, it's *Ephesians-5*
I didn't tell her to say this
before. Before before that, what I always heard growing up was Ephesians-5:22 where it says, wives, submit to your husbands. It's the s word. It's the s word we all don't like. Like, what do you mean I have to submit to my husband?
Because when I was younger, I went to a small church, and there was this joke. It was every year when they were talking on marriage, they would say they would start out because order is important. It's it talks to the wives first. Submit to your husband. Right?
And there would be a joke, and someone would say it, and we would all laugh, but I think a lot of us ladies I was I was a kid at the time, but now I look back on it, the guys would be like, yeah, fix me a sandwich. And we would all joke about that, but really out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. And I think that that is something that our culture for a long time was, like, men are dominant and men, you know, beat their women down and they make sure that they have the authority in the home when when scripturally anything worldly, that looks oppressive. I've been told if you look at submitting to your husband as a good thing, that is oppressive. I'm like, when you look at things through the lens of Jesus, it's not oppressive because Jesus isn't oppressive.
He's a gentleman. So what I see is before that in verse 21, it doesn't say wives submit to husbands. It doesn't say husbands fit to wives, and order is important in scripture. It actually said, submit yourselves 1 to another as is fitting for the Lord. When we lay down our lives for 1 another, that's when marriage gets beautiful.
When I'm willing to say, you know what? I'm wrong. When I'm willing to say morning, guys. When I'm willing to say, I I I want to allow you to lead because that's what scripture has has taught me to do. I'm not oppressed.
I'm willing to allow him the position that the Lord has given him in the home because verse 22, it says, wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church*. If you look at Jesus* as the head of the church and him just constantly on top of you ordering you around, then you don't have a really good picture of Jesus. Mm-mm. You don't have a really good picture of him washing you with the water of his word and loving you and cherishing you and protecting you.
Picture within marriage. Maybe that's your picture of with your husband or with your boyfriend or with whoever whoever it is that has has the person that's supposed to show you love, maybe your parent. Maybe you see that as oppressive, but Jesus loves us unconditionally.
Yeah. The the the picture of the man submitting a husband submitting the wife looks like what I talked about, laying your life down for them. You know, that's what it looks like. It's leadership in the Bible as as the leader of the home leadership in the Bible is servitude. It's serving.
Jesus said, you'll do the same things and I that I do and even greater to those that follow him, to the church. Meaning, his role is laying his life down for us and pushing us up, empowering us to to walk in all God's called us to to to do. So, my my role in submitting to her is laying my life down and pushing her up as a radiant bride, as a beautiful bride, and speaking to her what God says about her, and and doing what I can in order to serve her in a way that helps her to accomplish everything God's put inside of her and never holding her back. And and, you know, when when it looks like that Mhmm. It is submitting 1 to another.
So let me ask you, who should who should lay themselves down first?
Mhmm.
And the answer is you. I'm talking to you, husbands, wives. Somebody has to be the first person that says, you know, like, for me in in our marriage, and if I can just be transparent and Absolutely. That's what
we do.
Just go. In our marriage, there was a point where God started working on me in this area before he started working on him. That's okay. So what I had to do was what is my role? God, how do you want me to be the wife that God has called me to be?
Now, this was difficult because at the time, he was not being the husband that God had called him to be. But God had shown me through people teaching me, talk talking to me, counseling me through his word, that my role is to allow him to be the man that the Lord called him to be. And what that looked like with him was me letting him lead and letting him learn through mistakes. Because he hasn't always gotten it right leading me, but he's gotten a lot of practice and he's gotten really good at it, and it's beautiful because now he saw me doing that, and that caused him something inside us wants to change when the Lord starts changing you. Something inside, if a if a husband starts changing on the inside, there is like this internal, oh, snap, like, something's going on in you.
You're looking kinda good. Like, I'm I'm cool with letting you do your thing and me doing my thing. Like, this is this is gonna work out. That's when it gets beautiful.
Alright. So, my last question to you is, with all of its challenges, why and and and if we're real, there's a there's a lot of challenges. Yeah. Marriage is this pressure cooker of of getting out selfishness. Right?
It's this pressure cooker of learning to "lay down selfishness". And, to the extent that you lay down selfishness, your marriage is great. And, to the extent that you don't, your marriage is gonna be terrible. I mean, just be real. I mean, that's that's it.
But, this translates into other relationships Every as relationship.
Okay. So, with all of its challenges, all of its pressure cookerness, why is marriage depicted as so beautiful in the Bible?
At the end of time and maybe this is new to you. Maybe this the story is new to you. But at the end of all time, there's going to be a really big wedding. And I think that there's a reason that that when we see, and we're gonna get to see it today, and I'm emotional because I'm pregnant, but this also makes me emotional. When a bride walks through, there's nobody looking like, groom isn't looking at the bride as, oh my gosh, I can't believe what she did yesterday.
There is this there is this this honor and this desire of the groom to, like, protect her and love her, and, like, you the the groom's eyes are only on her. It's this beautiful picture of redemption when Jesus is gonna look at us. Cause the church, the the worldwide body of Christ is depicted as a radiant and beautiful bride in scripture. And 1 day, there's gonna be a big marriage ceremony and it's a picture of redemption. And I think that the reason we get emotional I know I know I have always when that bride stands there, I'm just like,
oh my gosh. She's so
Do y'all understand? I I was talking to Casey, and she's like, so don't wear makeup this week. Right? Like, don't wear makeup to church because we're all gonna be crying. Because there's this picture of redemption that we all are anticipating, and if we're not anticipating it, we're desiring it of Jesus coming back for his beautiful radiant bride.
There's not gonna be any more refining because we're gonna be finally refined. You know? There's not gonna be any more strife or toiling or or trying anymore. It's gonna just be us and Jesus in this beautiful ceremony. We're eat.
That makes me happy. We're gonna but that's in the bible. There's gonna be a feast, a "great feast" and celebration. And so marriage in the world is a depiction or is supposed to be a depiction of that great marriage ceremony between Jesus and his bride. And every single day, we are still flawed.
You know that. I know that. I I just told you about yesterday, and I probably messed up a bunch this morning too with my kids. I know I was fussing a lot this morning because Sunday.
Help her, Lord.
But but we're still being refined. We're still we're still walking this thing out, and we're still learning. And and in our marriages, we're still learning, and grace is a beautiful thing within marriage. When I see him mess up yesterday, I asked him for forgiveness. He's like, you've already got it.
And I asked him for grace and he was like, you've already got it. And I'm just like, it makes me love you so much more. But
That wasn't always my first response.
No, it wasn't. It wasn't. But we're growing. But that's what Jesus does. When we mess up, he's like, come on baby girl, let's just "keep going forward".
You don't have to stay in this mess that you feel like you're in, and that's where we are now. And as a bride and groom are becoming 1, it's a picture of of spiritually, you know, there's father, son, holy spirit, 3 persons in 1. Usually, we look at becoming 1 as this 1 thing, a physical thing, and yes, that is a part of it between a husband and a wife, but it's a spiritual thing. It's a picture of father, son, holy spirit in 1 God. It's a man and a woman, 2 very different people with very different roles that the Lord is bringing together to be a picture of the bride of Christ and of Jesus.
And so, that's why I believe we get excited about marriage, we get excited about the wedding ceremony, and I I think I'm really excited if you can't tell. Thank
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