AI Summary
5 min readGrowing a Love That Lasts—Part One
When Rick Warren asked people married 25 years or longer to stand, then those married 40 years to remain standing, he didn't ask whether it was easy. He didn't need to. "Kay and I last year had our 40th anniversary," he said. "I rolled over in bed in the morning. I said, 'I'm proud of you, honey.' She said, 'I'm tired of you too.'" The laughter in the room acknowledged what everyone knows: lasting love is hard. The divorce statistics confirm it—41% for first marriages, 60% for second, 73% for third. "Anybody can fall in love," Warren said. "It's like falling in a ditch. But it takes a whole lot more to stay in love."
The Foundation: God's Unchanging Love
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:02) **The Foundation: God's Everlasting Love** - Rick opens by declaring that God's unchanging, unconditional love is the only reliable foundation for life and for human relationships.
- 2 (02:49) **The Challenge: Falling in Love vs. Staying in Love** - Rick presents the sobering statistics on divorce rates and argues that staying in love is a matter of deliberate, repeated choice.
- 3 (03:49) **The "Big Ds" of a Lasting Marriage** - Rick honors couples married 25+ and 40+ years, noting that their love was tested by doubt, depression, debt, and disease, but they chose to avoid the "big D" of divorce.
- 4 (07:04) **The Four Choices for Lasting Love** - Rick introduces the framework from 1 Corinthians 13:7, which outlines four essential choices that must be made to cultivate everlasting love.
- 5 (08:09) **Choice #1: Lasting Love Extends Grace** - Rick explains that the first and most critical choice is to be gracious, as the longer you are in a relationship, the easier it becomes to be critical and take each other for granted.
- 6 (09:55) **When to Extend Grace: Flaws and Faults** - Rick identifies the first of three specific times grace is needed: when a partner's flaws and faults become irritating.
- 7 (13:49) **When to Extend Grace: Hurtful Words and Actions** - Rick identifies the second time grace is needed: when words or actions cause pain, whether intentional or unintentional.
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Show Notes
Choosing who you’ll marry is one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make. The good news is that God doesn’t leave you to figure it out on your own—his Word gives practical wisdom for building a healthy, lasting marriage. It also clears up some common myths that can lead people in the wrong direction. In this series, Pastor Rick walks through biblical principles that will help you make wise choices about relationships and marriage.God wants you to love your spouse in the same way he loves you—with an everlasting love. Anybody can fall in love. But it takes real work to stay in love. Join Pastor Rick in this message series as he explains how love is a choice, not a feeling.The longer you’re married, the easier it is to become ungracious. No marriage can last without grace, forgiveness, acceptance, and a lot of patience. In this message, Pastor Rick shares that to make your marriage last, you must learn to extend grace.
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