The 6 Purposes of Marriage

(my notes from a sermon by Rick Warren)

The number one purpose of marriage is to make you HOLY not HAPPY.  Amen. :)

Marriage doesn't solve or create problems.  It magnifies problem that were already there. 

If you are selfish, your marriage will reveal it.

Don't see certain things about yourself when you're still single.

Marriage magnifies problems that were masked when you were single.

No one today knows all of the purposes of marriage. 

1. Marriage was created for the ultimate connection of men and women

We need each other because men and women each hold part of the image of God.

Marriage is also an antidote for loneliness, nothing like the companionship you can find in marriage.

Marriage is God's idea, for a man and a women, and it is meant to last forever.  Amen :)

2. Marriage was created for the continuing of the human race. 

God commanded humans to "be fruitful and multiply."  That was the only command that the human race has been able to keep.

God wants our marriages to produce godly children

3. God created marriage for the protection of children.

God intended for a mother to care for the children and a father to provide. 

Children who don't grow up with their mother and father staying together are more likely to....fail in school, not graduate from college, get into drugs or alcohol, have a greater risk of depression, anxiety, possible suicide, getting in jail, and have children out of wedlock later in life

Kids develop BEST with both a mother and father always around them.

Their home is meant to be a place of refuge and security. 

4. God created marriage for the perfection of our character. 

We learn best how to love and be unselfish in marriage.

Marriage provides countless opportunities everyday to think of someone else and not yourself. 

In marriage it's NOT ABOUT ME anymore, but WE.  amen :)

The best way to learn how to serve and become more like Jesus is in a marriage. 

5. God created marriage for the best construction of a civilized society. 

The health of the marriages in a nation will determine the health of that nation. 

America is falling apart because we don't value marriage anymore. :(

6. God created marriage to give us the best picture possible of how Christ loves us, the church. 

It is the best model to show us how God wants our relationship to be with him. 


God bless!