Sunday is Valentine’s Day.  This is the weekend we celebrate the love between a man and a woman.  In particular, my sermon on Sunday will focus on married couples and the joy of their union. 

Love inside of marriage is a beautiful and unique thing.  The word of God says that marriage makes two people into one.  There is an intimate connection that unites people physically, but also emotionally, and spiritually.  I believe it is God’s great gift to humanity; to experience intimacy with another human at its deepest level.

The downside is that maintaining this relationship is not easy.  Every couple has issues and disagreements as they are forming this new union.  The glory of love is only realized through the grit of determination.  For two to become one, each individual must commit to staying together even when times are tough.  They must be willing to hang on by their fingernails when others are giving up on their marriage. 

Before you can experience the best that God has to offer in a marital relationship, you must develop the grit and determination to see it through to the end.  Long marriages filled with love and joy are not the result of a special gift given to your spouse this weekend.  (Although that is rarely a wrong move.)  No, great marriages result from two people who are unwilling to give up when times are hard.  The difficulties are what make the good times so sweet.