Love, Grace, & Forgiveness

We should rise up to follow God’s standards and Biblical principles.

³ By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established;

⁴ through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.

Proverbs 24:3-4

I. Love

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

1. Love is the bond of closeness and sensitivity to each other that you continue to feel over the years
   • Love matures with age
2. Love is putting other people’s interests above your own
   • Love in its purest form is giving
   • One has to make the necessary changes and adjustments over the years
3. Love must have certain boundaries

Apply love in:

1. Number of children/parenting/home building
2. Sex-how often
   • exercise self-constraint; God honors us when we practice self-discipline
3. Parents and in-laws
4. Career demands
5. Money/expenses/investments
   • God always provides because He is a good God, but He will help us when we help ourselves
6. Ministry/spiritual matters/Kingdom living
   • God will not bless selfishness
   • Marriage should encourage us to bless the Kingdom of God
7. Responding to conflict

Love must end up with proper teamwork

II. Grace

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God

Ephesians 2:8

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14

1. Grace is undeserved, unmerited favor that we show to one another
   • Without grace, the marriage relationship becomes very legalistic
2. Grace is allowing room for each other’s imperfections
   • Grace allows each person to be themself
3. Grace always seeks to restore
   • Even though we sin,God allows us grace to change
   • Grace is to be patient, waiting for the imperfect to be perfect
   • Grace must establish standards and values

Apply grace in

1. Leadership/followership
   • encourage men to take the lead
   • men can take extreme pressure better than the ladies because God made them that way
   • men can bring great stability in a relationship; stable relationships produce stable children
2. Life standards/values
   • character values
   • skill and education developmentm

III Forgiveness

But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Matthew 6:15

If you don’t forgive, you are not forgiveness

1. Forgiveness is deliverance from penalty
   • Unquestionable, complete
2. Forgiveness is pardon given and the person is set free
   • Forgiveness should be fleshed out in transformation, and should be accompanied with improvements

Apply forgiveness in

1. Mistakes made
2. Struggles/challenges