Kickoff, Week 5: Same Team

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV) The man who finds a wife finds a treasure, and he receives favor from the Lord. Proverbs 18:22 (NLT) Message Title:  Same Team Stop trying to change each other. As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.  So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. Ephesians 5:31-33 (NLT) They aren’t you and that’s great news thing! Go to counseling! Maintenance is always better than repair… Where there is no counsel, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety. Proverbs 11:14 (NKJV) Build your team Find people who you want to be like and do what they do Get all the advice and instruction you can, so you will be wise the rest of your life. 21 You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail. Proverbs 19:20-21 (NLT) Fight the Crazy Cycle Healthy conflict can only exist with a same team mentality. Keep it Current Keeping it current helps you fights the temptation to sweep issues under the rug and allow bitterness to grow. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Ephesians 4:26-27 (ESV) Have a playbook! Where there is no vision, the people perish… Proverbs 29:18 (KJV) Let HIM lead; Let HER counsel And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.  For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord.  For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church.  As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything. Ephesians 5:21-24 (NLT) For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word… Ephesians 5:25-26 (NLT) So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. Ephesians 5:33 (NLT) Leading the home is a responsibility NOT a right… responsibility serves; right demands. When you are on the same team… what used to be viewed as CRITICISM is now seen as COUNSEL. Parent from the Same Team Support in front of them… discuss away from them. Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it. Proverbs 22:6 (NLT) Protect the 1st Team As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.  Ephesians 5:31-32 (NLT) Be more concerned with hurting your spouses feeling, than hurting other people’s feelings.  Play with Passion Have FUN and stop making everything so SERIOUS. The team who plays together off the field will play better together on the field. For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her… Ephesians 5:25 (NLT)