There are so many things that clamor for our attention and devotion: our jobs, our kids, our spouses, our hobbies—the demands and distractions of life. And we have to be careful not to let them become more important or more of a priority than our relationship with God. The key to having God’s “abundant life”—His love, peace and joy—is keeping Him in His rightful place in our priorities. Sometimes it’s good when things don’t add up. It is keeping God first in our lives. When God is in the equation, we can end up with a lot more than we expected. In “Multiply”, we learn what happens when we put God first in our lives

The secret of a lasting marriage is summed up in one word: commitment.  Not romance. Commitment. It takes far more than romantic feelings to make a marriage last simply because there are times that we or our spouse are not very romantic. There are days when you will be on the mountain top and marriage is all that you hoped it would be. But then there will be days when you are between mountain tops in the valley. Suddenly things are not all that you hoped they would be. Real commitment can and will get you through the days in the valley. But it is not that easy. Most married couples claim to be committed, but do we truly grasp or fully understand the concept? It is a concept that culture has used, abused and improperly modeled for so long that it is easy to lose sight of what genuine commitment looks and acts like. Which is why we concluded the Unforgettable Love series on this subject.

Marriage is a combination of two uniquely individual people. A godly marriage does not happen by chance. To enrich and deepen the relationship takes a lot of hard work. Couples may stay together for the rest of their lives because of the commitment, but may never experience God’s design to be one unless they are totally committed to the marriage. Keep the chemistry with your spouse alive. Be committed to keeping your relationship fresh. Keeping your marriage strong, vibrant and fresh isn’t always easy. But if you put in the time and effort, you’ll discover how truly amazing your marriage can be if we simply feed the fires.

The Prophet Amos asked, “How can two walk together unless they agree?” (Amos 3:3) The obvious answer is, they cannot. Conflict in marriage is inevitable, so the ability to resolve conflict in a way that produces agreement between husband and wife is critical to the success of the marriage. When a couple takes time to review where they’ve come from, where they are, and come to agreement on any conflict, they are able to make tremendous strides in their relationship and in life. This week’s message was on how couples can unplug conflicts and how to plug into God’s plan for marriage.