Loving people intentionally starts with loving God intentionally.

30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these. —— Mk 12:30-31

• Heart - Loving Him and Him alone
• Soul - Delighting in Him
• Mind - Submitting to Him, His Word, Way, Will, and Purposes
• Strength - Persevering and Remaining faithful to Him to the end.

If we love God, we will honour Him.

If we honour Him, we will honour others too.

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I. Honouring GOD

Honour = to treat with high respect, great esteem, special attention and admiration

Those who honour me I will honour, but those who despise me will be disdained. —— 1 Sam 2:30b

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II. Honouring PARENTS

Honour your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you. —— Dt 5:16

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III. Honoring your SPOUSE

Sanctity of Marriage

Sanctity: the quality or state of being holy, sacred, or saintly; very important and valuable.

God himself blessed the first marriage and established the unity of the first man and woman – Adam and Eve.

For this reason, a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. —— Gen 2:24, AMP

Marriage is sacred and holy and must be treated with honour and respect.

So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate.” —— Mt 19:6, NKJV

One Golden Rule of Marriage

You shall not commit adultery. —— Exo 20:14

How do you honour your spouse?

• Heart- by Loving him/her alone
• Soul - by Delighting in him/her
• Mind - by Submitting to himher and thinking of hisher highest good instead of self
• Strength - by Persevering in all circumstances and remaining faithful to him/her to the End.

Scripture verses to help you love and honour your spouse and enhance your marriage:

To the husbands:

Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect and honour as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers. —— 1 Pe 3:7

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. —— Eph 5:25, NIV

Husbands, love your wives (seek the highest good for her and surround her with a caring, unselfish love), just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her. Eph 5:25, AMP

Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ’s love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They’re really doing themselves a favor—since they’re already “one” in marriage. —— Eph 5:25, MSG

Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. —— Col 3:19, NIV

Husbands, love your wives (with an affectionate, sympathetic, selfless love that always seeks the best for them) and do not be embittered or resentful toward them (because of the responsibilities of marriage) —— Col 3:19, AMP

Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them. —— Col 3:19, NKJV

Husbands, go all out in love for your wives. Don’t take advantage of them. —— Col 3:19, MSG

To the wives:

Wives, understand and support your husbands in ways that show your support for Christ. The husband provides leadership to his wife the way Christ does to his church, not by domineering but by cherishing. So just as the church submits to Christ as he exercises such leadership, wives should likewise submit to their husbands. —— Eph 5:22, MSG

Wives, understand and support your husbands by submitting to them in ways that honor the Master. —— Col 3:18, AMP

Marriage Vows

I, __, take you, __, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward (Heart), for better, for worse (Soul), for richer, for poorer (Mind), in sickness and in health (Strength), to love and to cherish, for as long as we both shall live. According to God’s Holy ordinance, I pledge to you my love.

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Loving God intentionally enables you to live people intentionally.

Honouring God respectfully empowers you to honour and respect your parents and your spouse.

Challenge

1. Be alert and beware of the devil and his wicked schemes to draw you away from God and your spouse.

2. Love your spouse intentionally and unconditionally.

3. Be faithful to God and to your spouse to the end.