Are you willing to put time and effort into making your marriage the best it can be? I hope the answer is yes. If it’s no, I’m not sure why you’re coming this weekend! I hope you want to put time and effort into making your marriage better. That’s what this entire event is about. But why? Why should we do this? Why have this event at all? Why work at our marriages? Let me give you two reasons why I think we all need to work at our marriage and why events like this are important.

     First, because our marriages NEED work. Every marriage needs work. Some are five alarm fires that need a ton of work. Some are mostly content with some discontent brewing in the background. And some are like 95% happy. Which is great! But there’s still 5% there that could be better. In fact, there will always be room for work in your marriage for one simple reason: we’re all broken. Nobody can be a perfect husband/wife because nobody is perfect. Paul says in Romans 3:23 that we all fall short. No one is righteous. We’re all broken. And if it’s true that I’m broken, then it’s true, to some degree, I could be a better spouse. And so could you. The first reason we need to put time and effort into our marriages, the first reason we need to work at marriage, is because we’re not perfect and neither is our marriage. It takes work!

     Second, because our marriages are WORTH the work. What if, and this may sound like a crazy idea to some of you, but what if God put you and your spouse together? What if He was the reason you two got married? Sure, his kindness, her laugh, his washboard abs, they all helped. But what if God was really the one who hooked you guys up? Jesus seems to think so. Jesus is talking about marriage in Matthew 19 and in verse 6 he says this, “6 Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.” This married couple have been join together, not just by their love and vows and a minister, but by God Himself. God put you and your spouse together? Why? Paul says in Ephesians 5:31-32 it’s to show the world God’s love for us. You heard me. Your individual mission is to spread the good news about Jesus. But, and, again, this may sound like a crazy idea to some of you who are thinking “have you met my spouse?” God put you and your spouse together to spread the good news about Jesus. You don’t just have an individual mission. You have a joint mission to show the world the love of God. That elevates your marriage. It isn’t just a thing you two decided. It’s a divine thing. A divinely appointed tool on a divine mission of sharing the Gospel in a broken world. It’s worth working on.

     So, as we come to this weekend, know that your marriage needs work and it’s worth working on. Lean into the conversations. Lean into your spouse. Lean into marriage. God put you there and He’s brought you here, so make the most of it. Don’t waste an opportunity to do exactly what your marriage needs. What all of our marriages need. Lean in this weekend. Your marriage needs it. Your marriage is worth it.