Jump directly to the Content
Jump directly to the Content

Sermon Illustrations

Home > Sermon Illustrations

Commitment and Acceptance Are Keys to Marriage

In his book Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas writes:

If we are serious about pursuing spiritual growth through marriage, we must convince ourselves to refrain from asking the spiritually dangerous question: "Did I marry the right person?"

A far better alternative to questioning one's choice is to learn how to live with one's choice. A character in the Anne Tyler novel A Patchwork Planet comes to realize this too late. The book's 32-year-old narrator has gone through a divorce and now works at an occupation that has him relating almost exclusively with elderly people. As he observes their long-standing marriages, he comes to a profound understanding:

I was beginning to suspect that it made no difference whether they'd married the right person. Finally, you're just with who you're with. You've signed on with her, put in half a century with her, grown to know her as well as you know yourself or even better, and she's become the right person. Or the only person, might be more to the point.
I wish someone had told me that earlier. I'd have hung on then; I swear I would. I never would have driven Natalie to leave me.

Related Sermon Illustrations

"Seinfeld": Marriage Is a Man-Made Prison

In a Seinfeld episode entitled "The Engagement," Jerry and his friend, George Costanza (Jason Alexander), have decided it's time to "grow up" and treat the ...

[Read More]

Dealing with the Cow-pie-ridden Fields of Marriage

In his book This Momentary Marriage: A Parable of Permanence, pastor and author John Piper offers a memorable analogy for dealing with the highs and lows of marriage:

Picture your marriage ...
[Read More]