Philippians 2:5 (NIV) “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:”

Rely is the PROVING ground for trust in a marriage—and the

PREREQUISITE for commitment in dating.

Someone else CANNOT complete you. ONLY Jesus can.

Colossians 2:8–10 (NLT) “Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.”

The more you turn to Jesus to meet your DEEPEST NEEDS, the more capable you’ll be to meet your spouse’s ACTUAL NEEDS.

Genesis 2:18 (NIV) “The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’”

DATING:

Be careful not to RUSH too quickly to RELY on someone before you KNOW and TRUST them.

If you don’t HEAL from your past, it’s really hard to have HEALTH in your future.

How do you know, while dating, if you can rely on someone in marriage?

Watch carefully the other person’s RECIPROCITY (GIVE/TAKE).

What you experience in dating is the CEILING for marriage.

Matthew 19:5 (NIV) “‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’”

“Woman without her man is nothing.”

“Woman, without her, man is nothing.”

“Woman without her man, is nothing.”

MARRIED:

DISTANCE between spouses is where SATAN likes to set up shop.

In your marriage, you will always make BETTER decisions TOGETHER than you do apart.

Proverbs 15:22 (NIV) “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.”

Romans 12:4-5 Just as there are many parts to our bodies, so it is with Christ’s body. We are all parts of it, and it takes every one of us to make it complete, for we each have different work to do. So we belong to each other, and each needs all the others.

You cannot live the LIFE God wants for you if you live it INDEPENDENT of others.

Ecclesiastes 4:12 (NLT) “A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.”