Today I'm Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. How do you keep love in marriage alive? I mean the glow after the honeymoon wears off, where life settles into those routines and daily demands. How do you build a marriage that is fresh and really lasts? That's today.
Stay with me. The honeymoon is over. The romance has faded. you're grinding through routines and wondering if this is all there is.
Sound familiar? Today on Living on the Edge, Chip Ingram shows us how Jesus modeled the kind of love that keeps marriages alive. In John chapter 13, Jesus did something shocking the night before his crucifixion. He washed his disciples' feet. And in that act, he revealed the secret to deepening love in any relationship.
It's not about feelings, it's about choosing to serve when you don't feel like it. Through practical biblical principles, Chip will show you how to communicate love in ways your spouse actually receives.
Well, here's Chip. The overarching theme is how to keep love alive. And I'm going to talk about four biblical practices that great marriages have in common. One book that if you haven't read, it is so worth it, and I'll be talking a little bit more about it later, is The Five Languages of Love. And in the introduction, Gary Chapman talks about being on a plane, and he sits next to a guy, and one thing comes to another.
And he says, Well, what do you do for a living? He goes, Well, I'm a marriage counseling, and I do seminars, and I write books on marriage. He said, Well, this is my lucky day. And he said, You know, I love it. Like, you're in love.
But does anyone ever keep love alive? I mean, is it possible? I mean, do do people just... say, I guess marriages are mostly empty and you just grind it out. He said, is there any way to keep love alive?
And of course, Gary Chapman in his book talks about that in-love, euphoric, over-the-top dissipates. But the need. to feel loved. never goes away. And you and I are living in a day and in a culture that basically says the in-love feeling is what marriage and relationship is all about.
And if you don't have that all the time, you probably married the wrong person or you, right, we fall in love, we fall out of love, and so what you need to do is find the next person, which then you look at the statistics and it doesn't work and the next one after that doesn't work. And it's chaos. And I want to go to maybe an unusual place. You can open your Bibles. I want to read a passage.
It's Ephesians chapter 5. And normally what we do Is we talk all about, you know, it talks about what a woman should do and be, and then it talks about what a man should do and be, and then it has this little line at the end. That says, oh, but this is really about the mystery of Christ in the church. Follow along, Ephesians 5. I'll pick it up at verse 25.
Husbands. I mean, you talk about a hard assignment. Love your wives. How? just as Christ also loved the church.
Well, how did he do that and gave himself up for her? Why?
So that he might sanctify her, set her apart, having cleansed her by the washing of the water with the word.
Well, why? That he might present. to himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. but that she would be holy and blameless. Parallel.
So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes it and cherishes it. just as Christ also does the church. Because we are members of his body.
And then he goes back and reaches into Genesis that classic passage. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother. and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. Look at verse 32. This mystery is great.
But I'm speaking with reference to Christ in the church. In other words, there's this Model of marriage that's a love relationship between Jesus and his church. And then he kind of brings it back down to everyday life. Nevertheless, Each individual among you must also love his own wife even as himself. and his wife must also see to it that she respects and honors her husband.
And I was thinking and praying and asking God, you know, Lord, what do you want to say to this group of people? And that passage kept going over and over and over. And what I realized is very rarely do we take how Jesus loves the church. and use that as our model for how we're to love one another in marriage. And so what I want you to do now is to open to John chapter 13.
And this is a time where the disciples are being told uh to go prepare. The Last Supper. They don't know it's the Last Supper. It's just Passover. They're Jewish boys.
It's a very important moment. They're going to reenact that moment where God delivered his people, and the blood was put on the doorpost, and the lamb is going to be killed. And all these things are gonna happen, and Jesus has been telling them for some time now that their religious leaders are gonna kill him, and he sends them on ahead. And now imagine, the parallel is going to come. You can look at your notes and you can sort of look ahead.
But what I want you to get is the context and where Jesus was. He sends them on ahead. And they get to this upper room. And when they get to the upper room, we learn the commentary is from one of the other Gospels on the way there, what they were discussing. Does anybody remember?
Who is the greatest? I mean, after three years, and you're going to hand over the ministry to save the world to a group of guys that have been with you. They've seen you raise people from the dead, they've seen you. Feed 5,000, 4,000. They've seen you walk on water.
They've heard all your sermons and all your messages. And you got like 24 hours with them. And their big argument is: we know he's leaving. And so, Who's going to be the top dog now? I mean, who's going to get so many stars or stripes, right?
So they walk in and I think the Lord Created this little test for them. And when you would walk the dusty streets, everyone wore sandals. And when you would walk in a room, there would be a large jar, and then probably the lowliest servant in the household would be there. And when you came in, they would wash your feet off. and and towel them dry.
So all twelve of them walk in. And no one humbles himself. Because I'm better than that. This is about me. It's about I'm more important than that.
That job's too lowly. In other words, they're here the last night and their passion and their focus is my needs about me and my role and what I need and who ought to serve me. Does Is there e Like a remote sense that any of us have felt that way in your marriage?
So let's find out. How does he respond? John chapter 13. Pick it up at verse 1.
Now before the feast of the Passover, Don't miss this. Jesus. knowing that his hour had come, And that he would depart out of this world to his father. And having loved his own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. In other words, This is going to be one of his greatest acts of Love.
During the supper, the devil had already come into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray him. Jesus, knowing the Father had given all things to his hands, and that he had come forth from the Father and is going back to God, got up from supper, laid aside his garments, taking a towel, he wrapped it around or girded himself. He poured water into a basin and he began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded around his waist. Then he came to Simon Peter and he said, Lord, do you wash my feet? Jesus answered and said to him, What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.
Peter said to him, Never shall you wash my feet. And Jesus answered, If I do not wash your feet, you have no part with me. And then Simon Peter said, Lord, then Wash not only my feet, But also my hands and my head. And Jesus said to him, He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not all of you.
For he knew the one betraying him. And for this reason he said, Not all of you are clean.
So when he had washed their feet, taken his garment, reclined at the table again, He said to them, Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the teacher, And the Lord washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. And then we get this moment, truly, truly I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is the one who is sent greater than the one who sent him.
If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. Let me skip over because he's now going to Talk about his going and Judas is going to get up. And at the end of this supper, if you skip all the way to verse 34. He says to them, 33 for context, little children. I'm with you a little while longer.
You'll seek me. As I said to the Jews, now I say to you, where I'm going, you cannot come. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another even as you are. as I have loved you. that you also should love one another.
How did he just love them? He served him. Who deserved to be the head? And who chose to be the servant? Who should have been offended and who chose to humble himself?
Who knew, was secure enough to knew where he came from and where he was going and didn't have to have their approval. And so being secure and knowing his role, he could love them and he's going to love them to the end. And now what he says to them, this new commandment, I don't want you just to love. I want you to love each other the way I loved you.
Now look at verse 35 in your Bible. Notice the impact. By this, all men will know that you are my disciples. Why?
by how you love one another. Because you love one another the way I love you. That's the teaching of Jesus. His motive, what was his motive in serving him? Love.
His action, he washes their feet. Did you notice that uh Just because you love someone, it doesn't always work.
Some of them accepted it readily and some of them couldn't accept it. Why couldn't Peter accept it?
Some people are very uncomfortable receiving.
Some people from family of origins believe down deep in their heart, almost below the conscious level, I'm unworthy, I'm unlovable. And when you seek to love them and care for them and speak words of life, it's like babies off of a tank. Here's a hard time in marriage. When you're trying your very, very best, right? And you're thinking you're really loving the other person, and you're trying really hard, and it gets worse instead of better.
That's when you have these really scary moments like I don't think this can ever work I don't think this can ever work. And I want you to hope, and it can. And we're going to learn from this passage the beginning of how to restore your passion. You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Chip will continue today's message in just a moment.
So stay with us. If today's teaching is resonating with you, there's more where this came from. The complete series, Choosing Love, is available right now at livingonthege.org. You'll also find study notes, discussion questions, and resources to help you go deeper. Everything is waiting for you online at livingonthege.org.
Well, now let's continue with Chip's message. The principles out of this passage to identify to deepen your love: number one, is love is not a feeling. Jot that down. Love is not a feeling. Romantic emotional feelings are good.
Just don't confuse them with love. Definition of love. I've kind of just taken what the scriptures teach and packaged it together. Love is giving another person. What they need the most.
when they deserve it the least. at great personal cost. And if you would just pause for a moment and think in your mind, what happened at the cross? What did God the Son do? He gave us what we needed the most for forgiveness.
When we deserved it the least, we were his enemies. We were hostile to him. at great personal cost. And what did the Father do? He gave the Son.
And that's our model. And by the way, it's the supernatural power of God in us to do that. I can't do that on my own, and you can't do that on your own. Notice also, love is serving. And if you redefine love in your marriage, it's putting the needs of your mate above your own.
You might jot down Philippians chapter 2, verses 3 and 4. Paul is talking about what it really looks like to love, and he says, Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit. but with humility of mind Consider others. more important than yourself. Do not look only on your own interests, but also on the interests of others.
Third principle here is that love must be received. Ask yourself.
Sometimes, when you're hurt and you're resentful of your mate and they try and do something kind, what do you do? You want to make them pay, right? I'm not going to receive it right now. You know, they try and be a little affectionate or they say something a little kind. I'm not ready to make up right now.
I'm going to twist it, twist that old knife, you know. You know, here's here's you know, I read the passage, the two become one. There's no such thing as a winner and a loser. It's either win-win or lose-lose. Every interaction, every conversation, every fight, every disagreement, every big issue, it's either a win-win or it's a lose-lose.
Man, you can feel better for like 15 minutes. I got my way, or she better do that, or he's finally. And guess what? One of them. When resentment or hurt or woundedness happens in one person because the other thinks they won.
I'll tell you what, you're just sowing seeds of discord. Believe me, it'll pop up later. And so Well, then how do you How do you do this? Did you notice even That love is unconditional. You might jot that down.
So Then what's what are the practical implications? Practical implication number one is that love is a choice. It's not insincere. To do actions and say words of kindness and serve and help your mate when you don't feel like it. Love is a choice.
Don't confuse that with giving the person their way all the time, but I mean serving and loving and caring. It's a choice. Second implication is love meets the needs of the one loved. You know, Jesus could have come in and just... Not even notice that their feet were dirty.
So, you gotta love people in a way that makes sense to them. You have to observe what are the needs. What's going on in their life? That was my biggest, biggest challenge in our marriage was. I was loving my wife in ways that it was like I spoke German and she spoke French.
And I was trying hard and she was trying hard. And I mean, we were just completely missing each other. And it was so frustrating. Another implication is love requires extreme humility and security. Did you notice?
I mean This is God the Son humbling himself. bending down, washing feet. Um The tool for transformation I want to give you is we're going to learn the five languages of love. And I'm going to tell you, it'll be the beginning of a new day. I'll give you the picture of this is how this works.
Yeah. My kind of one of my love languages are are words that affirm. And another love language of mine is physical touch.
So, and I probably after that is quality time, and by God's grace, that's quality time is probably her number two and my number two. And so, early in our marriage, I think I'm loving my wife, and so I'm telling her, you look beautiful, I love you, verbal, I care for you, you're wonderful. And by the way, she doesn't say that to me. I'm an extrovert, she's an introvert, she doesn't say a lot. There's times we get in the car and we're driving for 30 minutes.
I grew up in a family where. You didn't take turns, you just interrupted one another. She came and visited my family, and it was like, these people are crazy. She didn't get a word in Edwin's.
Well, we're a verbal family. Hers I mean Kick. Here a pin drop. It's upper, you know? And so we're driving in the car for like 30 minutes.
And so being the man and having bizarre thoughts, I think, I wonder how long I'm not going to say anything and see how long it takes her to say something to me. You know?
So, okay, you know? Yeah, no, it's 10 minutes. Twenty-two minutes. And we're getting ready to be where we're supposed to be. And, you know, she's looking out the window.
Like that. And then, but she, in the nick of time, she says this, I'll never forget it. She turns to me and she goes. Isn't it wonderful just to be with a person that you love and not have to say a word? Yeah.
On this drive, I've just looked at the hills and the animals, and it's been so beautiful. I think I'm so glad I didn't say something on that one, you know. And so I would say things like that and it meant nothing. And on another occasion, I thought, yeah, I'm working really hard. And I wasn't real detail-oriented, to say the least.
And we're in seminary, and so I go and get some flowers for her. You know, I played a lot of pickup basketball, and I would lose track of time, and I kept coming home late, and we always argue about it, and I was trying to make up for it, you know, so I bring these. flowers or something and She, what? She takes more like that. She says, what are you doing?
I said, well, you don't like flowers? Chip, we only have $10 in our checking count. How much do those cost? Just a little bit more than $10.
So here's what I want you to get. I'm trying to express my love in ways. that are not communicating. All right?
So um And so on her side, we're in marriage counseling.
Okay, we're trying.
So she cooks these great meals, and the house is always beautiful, and I mean, she takes care of everything. I mean, just. Because One of her love languages is acts of service.
So she's saying, I love you with a great meal. I'm saying, you know what? I'll eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Hug me like this and say, you're awesome, Chip, and you're handsome, and I think you're brilliant, and you look so sexy tonight. And, you know, there's my love language, right?
And, you know, oh, the house looks really clean. You know, it is a wonderful meal.
Okay. You know, and so she's feeling like I'm rejecting her love.
Now guys, I'm going to skip ahead. All right?
Because here there's some real breakthroughs. As I learned to love her in a way that made sense to her. and she learned what my love language was. then what happens is you kind of get enough gas in the emotional tank to work on those things that some of them take a long time. There's fundamentals and skills and you have to practice and practice and practice and then you put it all together.
It's a process. You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram and powerful teaching about serving your way to deeper love in marriage. Chip will share more thoughts in just a moment. To revisit or share this message, head on over to livingontheedge.org. If today's teaching stirred your heart about learning to love through serving, you need Chip's book, I Choose Love.
This timely resource unpacks the revolutionary truth that love isn't something that happens to you, it's something you choose to do. Chip shows how agape love transforms marriages by giving what's needed most, when it's deserved least, at great personal cost. You'll discover practical ways to speak your spouse's love language and serve in ways that actually connect. Order your copy of I Choose Love by going online to livingontheedge.org. It's exciting to think how marriages are being restored through the biblical teaching of Living on the Edge.
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Well, now here's Chip with some final thoughts. As we wrap up the first program of this series, I hope you heard a few things that you begin to think to yourself, oh, That's how Jesus did it. Jesus connected, Jesus really loved in John chapter 13. What are some things that I can glean, that you can glean out of that? Here's what I want you to know: I've never taught a mentoring or coaching series quite like this.
And what I've done in each one of these is I've taken the way that Jesus deepened his love with his disciples because he's our model. And when we do that in our marriage relationships, I'm telling you, great things happen. And so, when he wanted to deepen his love, what you see in John 13, it was his very last act, he serves. And so, in each one of these messages, I'll give the teaching, then I'll give the principles, and then most of you are going to be most excited for our next broadcast because I'll give the practical implications, and then each time I will give you a very specific tool. I mean, something practical to do.
to serve your mate in a way that here's what I will guarantee. It will deepen your love because it will be a tool that allows you to do what Jesus did for his disciples.
So, I don't know what you have going on for the next couple weeks, but let me encourage you to stay with me. Let's join together and learn to love our mates in ways that provide deep, lasting, rich relationships because it's more than just about us and our happiness. Our marriages are God's billboard to the world. It's the picture of Jesus and the church.
So, join me for the next couple weeks and let's grow together. Can you really learn to love when you don't feel like it? I'm Dave Druy, inviting you to join us as Chippinggram continues teaching on the love languages, tomorrow on Living on the Edge. Today's program is produced and sponsored by Living on the Edge. Uh
