Getting Off The Crazy Cycle Series

INTRODUCTION – We live in new world.

• Social networking has never been easier,

• But we don’t do relationships very well.

• The hardest place for relationships is home.

• Hebrews 13:4 NLT, “Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage.”

• Measure your relationships not on others behavior, but on His behavior towards you.

I. A KEY TO POSSIBILITY; LOVE AND RESPECT

• Ephesians 5:28,31,33, “…husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies...the wife must respect her husband.”

• Love = devotion, admiration, warm attachment

• Respect = to esteem, give preference to

• Marriage takes more than love to survive, it takes skill and wisdom.

• 2 Keys to a Happy Marriage:

1. Behave like good friends.

o Relationships are characterized by respect, affection, and empathy.

2. Handle their conflicts in gentle, positive ways.

• 4 Behaviors That Cause A Downward Spiral

1. Criticism 2. Defensiveness 3. Contempt 4. Stonewalling

II. LOVE AND RESPECT

• When a man is unloving a wife will typically be less respectful to him.

• When a woman is demeaning a man will be unloving.

• We have a crazy cycle.

• We keep doing the same things over and over and expect a different outcome.

• Stop now! Deal with your marriage issues now!

III. RESPECT

• The word Paul uses for love is agape - unconditional love and for respect is unconditional

respect.

• Common thread in marriages that last - love and respect.

• The most corrosive force in marriage was contempt.

CLOSE

• Communication - half of it is the delivery, not the words.

• The manner in which you confront can be life-giving or demeaning.

• Matthew 12:34, “The mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.”