Love Sermon

Introduction

The secret of good relationships in the Christian community is the recognition that Jesus Christ is Lord and that Christians live ‘unto him’.

John Stott

Dive into mine and Elaine’s relationship and my flaw of trying to jump into it as someone who wanted a relationship based on earthly desires instead of Godly desires.

Body

1 Peter 3:1–7 CSB

1 In the same way, wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, even if some disobey the word, they may be won over without a word by the way their wives live 2 when they observe your pure, reverent lives. 3 Don’t let your beauty consist of outward things like elaborate hairstyles and wearing gold jewelry or fine clothes, 4 but rather what is inside the heart—the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. 5 For in the past, the holy women who put their hope in God also adorned themselves in this way, submitting to their own husbands, 6 just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. You have become her children when you do what is good and do not fear any intimidation. 7 Husbands, in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with a weaker partner, showing them honor as coheirs of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.

In this passage notice that Peter says, “In the same way.” This is directly tying into what we read last week about being an obedient servant and being a witness by the way we conduct ourselves in our everyday lives from school, to work, to whatever else you do.

In this portion of the book, Peter really dives into one specific area of our lives and the importance of using that platform to glory Jesus. That area is your relationships, I’m not talking about relationships from peer to peer, but I’m talking about your special relationships.

Like the kind you celebrate on valentines day! Peter makes an incredible note of the importance of those relationships, but Paul dives into this topic as well in Ephesians when he says in:

Ephesians 5:22–33 CSB

22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord, 23 because the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of the body. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives are to submit to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word. 27 He did this to present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless. 28 In the same way, husbands are to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hates his own flesh but provides and cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, 30 since we are members of his body. 31 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. 32 This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 To sum up, each one of you is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband.

The idea that Peter and Paul are trying to convey through what we talked about last week and what we are talking about this week is that just as we don’t obey the government simply because they are the government, but instead because God put them in place. We also respond to our spouse with love and respect not simply because they are your significant other, but because God put them into place.

When we look at our relationships in the light that they were meant to be seen in, which is a direct reflection of our relationship with Jesus then we start to let Jesus take control of our relationship.

I’ll Say it Again

When we look at our relationships in the light that they were meant to be seen in, which is a direct reflection of our relationship with Jesus then we start to let Jesus take control of our relationship.

Our relationships should first be a reflection of our love for God, but then a reflection of our love for our significant other.

In other words, when your significant other is trying to live in a way that pulls you away from God and get you to join we have to put our foot down and must remember our first love as Christ and our next step should be showing love and compassion to them and pulling them more towards a Christ-like mindset instead of being pulled down to a worldly mindset in your relationship.

Why live in a Christlike relationship?

Impacts others.

Impacts who your in a relationship with.

Impacts you.

Compare mine and Elaine’s relationship to those areas.

Conclusion

In the way you carry yourself in your relationships and the way you live your life it should be a direct representation of Christ and his love for you and your love and faith in him.