Talking about marriage

TALKING ABOUT MARIAGE   Genesis 2:18-25 Everywhere people talk about marriage from different points of views; but God was the first to talk about marriage. How you perceive marriage determines what marriage brings to you. What you see is what you get. DIFFERENT WAYS PEOPLE PERCEIVE MARRIAGE 1. WHAT THEY HEAR This simply means the kind of information you receive around you about marriage. Always ask and check the source of your information before you buy it. Luke 8:15.  Do not learn marriage from a man or woman from a broken or turbulent home or from negatives books etc 2. WHAT YOU FEEL This is an opinion. It is a mental or physical awareness; it is an idea or emotion. It is a belief that is not wholly based on reasoning – Jeremiah 17:9-10. Your feelings cannot be trusted – feelings are mostly inconsistent with truth and reality.  3. WHAT YOU OBSERVE  What you see and observe around you. It is always fatal when you didn’t have the real model to observe. Observation is simply what you see and notice. It involves paying attention and watching carefully. 2 Corinthians 5:7 4. EXPERIENCE This is an event you were a part of. It means to observe or share in an event personally. To be affected by a feeling – Romans 3:4. Let your experience be a lie, let God’s word be true. Never let your experience become your conclusion. 5. YOUR TRADITION It is the handing down of beliefs and custom from one generation to another especially without writing.  Matthew 15:1-6, 12-13. Traditions make the word of God of no effect. Mark 7:5-13 – for you to successfully hold on to your tradition you will have to lay God’s word aside. In the same way to hold God’s word you must lay your tradition aside. You cannot successfully hold the two. 6. THE WORD OF GOD – Matthew 4:4 God’s word is what proceeds from God’s mouth. John 1:1-3. It is the beginning of all things. Mark 13:31 – Times and situations do not change it, it endures forever. John 5:39(Amp) – The more of it we search the more life we have. Notice – Matthew 19:1-8 marriage ran into problem when men’s heart become hardened Greek – “siceirkandia” i.e. to be tough, dry = which means to be destitute of  spiritual performance and understanding
PREPARING FOR MARRIAGE 1. VISION – Proverbs 29:18(Amp, LB) – Anything can perish without vision. Your marriage doesn’t stand a good chance without vision. Vision is the basis for anything that will succeed Vision is the driving force for anything. Vision is seeing things from God’s perspective Jeremiah 1:11-12, Romans 12:2, Habakkuk 2:1-2 The Hebrew word for vision is chizoun (i.e. “a mental sight, a dream or a revelation etc.) Matthew 1:18. Make sure you are carrying a spiritual child before you come into marriage – pregnancies restrain and control people; in the same way men/women of vision are controlled and restrained. Just like a pregnant woman cannot do whatever she likes, so also a man pregnant with vision cannot do whatever they like. 2. DISCOVER YOURSELF – Jeremiah 1:5 Begin to know what God knows about you – Philippians 3:
What is your direction in life?                                                                                                                  
Where do you see yourself in the next 5,10,20,40 years?
How do you see yourself spending the rest of your life?                                                        
What area are you passionate about?
What do you hate passionately?                                                                                                  
What easily moves you?
What gives you the greatest fulfillment?
Which kind of people attracts you the most?
What would you do with all your heart even if you were not paid?
What engages your attention so much that you do not remember to eat a times? John 4:34
What do people appreciate most about you?