- If our love for each other is meant to be a reflection of God’s love for us, the foundation should be generosity.
John 3:16 (NLT) // For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
Mark 10:45 // For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
- You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.
Proverbs 11:24-25 // One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.
- The higher they ranked in generosity towards each other, the happier they were.
- 5:1
- The virtue of giving good things to your spouse freely and abundantly.
- You Before Me
- Generously not Transactionally
- Happy couples have a choice.
1 Corinthians 13:1-7 // If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 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.
- Find the most generous explanation for each other’s behavior and believe it.
1 Corinthians 13:6-7 // Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
- Option B:
- Delight in uncovering mistakes
- Thrive on speculation
- Assume the worst
- Embrace doubt
- Just try it for a week.
