Gen 1:26 What does God think about Marriage? Get your priorities right now, do not allow them to get out of sequence. 1 John 4:10-11 We must love one another because God loved us first through Jesus.
Our Priorities
1. Jesus }
2. Others } J. O. Y
3. You }
Gen 2:7 God said that it is not good that man should be alone. God saw that man needed a woman, so God made a helpmate for him.
Man said of woman, “Come of my bone, flesh of my flesh,”
Jesus said the same thing about the Church.
God said that a man ought to leave mother and father and cleave to his wife.
The 5 Major Priorities:
Your Personal relationship with God.
God established this relationship both with man and woman before they had any children. Jesus came to reestablish this relationship with us, which will last forever.
NB!! Your priorities are not where you spend the most time, but in those things that you hold most precious. Your relationship with God is more important than your wife, children, family, ministry etc.
Your relationship between You and Your Wife:
This relationship is more important than your ministry. Your second responsibility is towards your wife, because when you married her you took on that responsibility. Thus you must move together, do not move separately. There is no room for fussing, arguing, fighting. This relationship will cease only when death do you part.
Your relationship between You and Your Children:
Do not place your ministry above your children. Your parents should not hinder your relationship between you and your children. Just because you do not want to follow in your parents footsteps, does not mean that you do not love them, But do not love your ministry above your parents. This relationship will cease when your children leave you to cleave to their spouse.
Your Fellowship at a Local Church:
(Ex 25) Let me make them a sanctuary that I may fellowship with them. Your home church is more important than your ministry. It does not have to be near to where you are staying.
Your Profession or Ministry
(Ex 31:1) If you have a full time job, it is more important than your ministry. 4000 years had past before God established the 5 fold ministry. This relationship will cease, only when God tells you to move on.
4 Types of Love:
1.) (1 John 4:7,8) Agape – Love, the God kind of Love. Let us love one another, and see one another as God sees us, valuable and precious.
NB!! A genuine craftsman is just as called and as profitable for the Kingdom of God, as a minister, is. God gives us gifts for carpentry, selling, etc.
NOTE: Get into the will of God by getting into the Word of God, doing the things of God, then your priorities will be right, and then the word will put you over.
Def: The God kind of Love, is to realize and to understand, the value and preciousness of a person. The Quality of Agape is determined by the one who loves and the person who is loved. (i.e.) The stuff that you are made of. Your character. Thus the quality of your ministry is determined by its’ character. It is built on the word it will put you over. Your character determines the quality of your Love. The more time you spend with God, the sweeter you become.
1 John 2:15 If any man loves the world, then the Agape is not in him. Thus he is not born again. The ability to look at others as valuable and precious, is the love of Jesus manifested in you. It casts out all fear. He who does not see his brother as valuable and precious, cannot see God as valuable and precious, because if he can not show Agape love to his brother who he can see, he can not say he loves God who he cannot see.
2.) Phileo Love towards, between friends. Proverbs says that he who would have friends must show himself as friendly. Friends are not only people with whom you have things in common, but it is someone you like because of who they are. This of course comes down to their character. It is someone who you can talk to at anytime, yet you can also be in their company and be quiet.
3.) Storge Love with affection. When you combine Agape and Storge love, then you greet one another with a holy kiss. When you combine Storge with Philao, without Agape, you develop Eros.
4.) Eros Love that is sexual and erotic. This is the lowest level of Love. A good marriage consists of a good portion of all four types of Love.
Every relationship should start with Agape love. You have no reason to date a person unless you have Agape love for them Many times a relationship is only Philae and Storge, and the temptation of Eros grows and grows, and becomes harder to avoid sex. You will not be sexually involved outside of marriage, to a person who you see as valuable and precious. If a marriage has no Agape love, it can only last as long as there is Philea, Storge, Eros love, but Satan will make you discontent with those 3 loves, but he cannot touch those who have
Agape love.
Agape is not automatic, thus it takes a quality decision based on the word of God, to see the other person as valuable and precious. That is why we were commanded to Love, it is something that we put on.
Marriage is an act of Faith. You make a faith confession based on the word of God, before your minister. Agape takes time, work and patience. It takes time to get to know a person properly. If you have made a mistake, you must make a decision to work on Agape. Remember that you have your faith confession before God, so stand on the word and see your partner as valuable and precious. It may take some time because of things that you have said and done in the past, so you have got to build up your credibility. Stay in the word, keep confessing the word, believe in the word.
NB!! Remember God sees you as valuable and precious. Accept yourself as valuable and precious. Begin to see God as valuable and precious, and then see your wife and children as valuable and precious.