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Speaker 1: Life Audio.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to the Crosswalk devotional. We're glad to have you listening.

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Speaker 2: Today's topic is about selflessness in marriage. We'll return with

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Speaker 2: the devotional after a brief message from one of our sponsors.

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Speaker 2: Finding the Sacrificial Beauty in Marriage written and read by

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Speaker 2: Emily Rose Massey. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit,

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Speaker 2: but in humility, count others more significant than yourselves. Let

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Speaker 2: each of you look not only to his own interests,

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Speaker 2: but also to the interests of others. Have this mind

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Speaker 2: among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus Philippians, Chapter two,

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Speaker 2: verses three through five. Summertime in America is marked by

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Speaker 2: so many celebrations and wonderful holidays. Graduation parties, Memorial Day,

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Speaker 2: Father's Day, Independence Day, lots of pool days and barbecues

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Speaker 2: with friends and family, and of course, weddings. Upon weddings,

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Speaker 2: I'm sure you know at least one couple who is

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Speaker 2: getting married this summer, or who at least celebrates their

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Speaker 2: anniversary in June, July, or August. It is truly a

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Speaker 2: very popular time of year to get married, so much

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Speaker 2: show that many people call it wedding season. I guess

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Speaker 2: my husband and I wanted to go against the norm,

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Speaker 2: as we so often do, and went to the opposite

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Speaker 2: end of the calendar and got married in December. I

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Speaker 2: truly look forward to celebrating with loved ones who tie

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Speaker 2: the knot during this season. Almost twenty years later, I

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Speaker 2: still get choked up witnessing someone else's big day. Weddings

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Speaker 2: are so lovely and fun, but they clearly represent something

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Speaker 2: so much more important and beautiful that the Lord has

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Speaker 2: providentially ordained that we should give our attention to outside

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Speaker 2: of that one special day marriage. The union of marriage

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Speaker 2: is so important to God that his word equates it

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Speaker 2: to the love that Christ has for the church his bride.

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Speaker 2: Ephesians chapter five, verses twenty two through thirty three, reflecting

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Speaker 2: upon that kind of love that Christ has for his own,

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Speaker 2: two words come to mind, humble and sacrificial. Christ modeled

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Speaker 2: this kind of love and asks husbands and wives to

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Speaker 2: walk in his footsteps. These verses in Philippians chapter two

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Speaker 2: capture this selflessness that we should long to foster in

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Speaker 2: our homes. In marriages. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit,

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Speaker 2: but in humility, count others more significant than yourselves. Let

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Speaker 2: each of you look not only to his own interests,

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Speaker 2: but also to the interests of others. Have this mind

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Speaker 2: among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus Philippians, Chapter two,

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Speaker 2: verses three through five, intersecting faith and life. I have

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Speaker 2: had two situations within the last handful of months where

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Speaker 2: women who were much older than me, women I should

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Speaker 2: be gleaning wisdom from painted marriage in such a terrible light,

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Speaker 2: and boasted in their divorces and singleness. It truly made

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Speaker 2: my heart heavy that because of their personal experiences, they

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Speaker 2: could not see the beauty in marriage, when they should

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Speaker 2: see it as a gift from God to sanctify us

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Speaker 2: and make us less selfish and more others focused. They

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Speaker 2: saw it as bondage, keeping them from living their own

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Speaker 2: life freely. As Christ followers, if we want a right

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Speaker 2: view of marriage, we must look to the scriptures. We

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Speaker 2: cannot rely on others' experiences or even our own, to

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Speaker 2: determine what God says on a matter. The more we

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Speaker 2: dive into His word, our naturally selfish minds are renewed

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Speaker 2: to love sacrificially as He does, extending the same grace

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Speaker 2: and mercy we have received from Him to others. The

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Speaker 2: word transforms us from the inside out all for the better,

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Speaker 2: and we begin to see the fruit of the spirit

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Speaker 2: see Galatian Chapter five, verses twenty two through twenty three,

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Speaker 2: develop and mature in our lives, which we need to

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Speaker 2: fully love others in humility and sacrifice, preferring them above ourselves.

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Speaker 2: What happens when our spouse hurts us? Because we've been

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Speaker 2: forgiven through the cross of Jesus Christ, we must forgive others.

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Speaker 2: We have received such great mercy. Therefore we must extend

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Speaker 2: the same mercy to our spouse, even if they have

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Speaker 2: wronged us or offended us. When we are quick to

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Speaker 2: apologize because of humility and choosing the other person over ourselves,

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Speaker 2: our hearts are free of bitterness, pride, and selfishness. None

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Speaker 2: of us are made of that. God gives us the

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Speaker 2: girl to do that. Many people would define grace as

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Speaker 2: unmerited favor to the undeserving, especially in terms of salvation,

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Speaker 2: which is true, but it doesn't stop there. It is

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Speaker 2: God's power to conform us to the image of Christ,

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Speaker 2: and God uses marriage to make us humble and sacrificial.

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Speaker 2: This grace that strengthens us and trains us is what

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Speaker 2: we experience in the majority of our Christian walk in

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Speaker 2: faith and obedience. With each step, we grow in holiness

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Speaker 2: in Christ's likeness day by day. Truthfully, marriage gives us

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Speaker 2: countless opportunities to reflect Christ by laying down our lives

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Speaker 2: for our spouse in humility and sacrifice. Oh how beautiful.

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Speaker 2: Further reading Ephesians chapter five, verses twenty two through twenty three.

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Speaker 2: John Chapter thirteen, verses thirty four through thirty five.

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