Kerry Shook - I Love You, But I Don't Understand You
Hey, for those of you who are married, have you ever said to your spouse, «I love you, but I don’t understand you»? Chris and I have said that to each other a lot over the years, and there have been many more times that we’ve thought it. «I love you, but I don’t understand you right now.» In close relationships, you’ll think that a lot: «I love you, but I don’t understand you at all,» and sometimes it’s, «I love you, but I can’t stand you.»
When you love someone, you will always have misunderstandings. But misunderstandings are very misunderstood because most people think that when there’s a misunderstanding, there’s something wrong in the relationship or something wrong with the other person. But misunderstandings aren’t a bad thing or a wrong thing. No, misunderstandings are major opportunities. Misunderstandings are big opportunities to experience more understanding and grow closer together. If you don’t understand the opportunity that misunderstandings offer, those misunderstandings will pile up over time, and you’ll have a mountain of misunderstandings that you’ll have to deal with that are hard to overcome.
One of the deepest human needs is a longing to be completely understood-to have someone in this life who really understands me. Only God completely understands us; He knows us through and through. I will never completely understand the people I love because they are very different from me. I can barely understand myself; in fact, most of the time, I don’t understand myself at all. So you’ll never understand the people you love completely, but you can understand them more every day, so that you grow closer and your love deepens. I felt like this was the topic God wanted me to speak about this Valentine’s weekend because God wants us to build loving relationships. God wants to take the disharmony and disunity and just tear it out of our relationships and tear down the mountain of misunderstanding that stands between so many of us because He wants us to experience real love.
So I want you to stand in honor of God’s word, and we’re going to go all the way back to the very first book, the very first chapter, the first book of the Bible, in Genesis 1:27. «So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.» And then Genesis 2:22: «Then the Lord God made a woman, and the man said, 'She shall be called Woman, ' for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.» You can be seated.
Now, Genesis 1:27 says that men and women are created exactly the same in a very important aspect: that is, we’re both created in the image of God. That means that we both have the capacity for spiritual things, that God created both men and women with a spiritual component to us. We are not just flesh and blood; we also have a spirit and the capacity to have a relationship with God. So being created in the image of God also means that men and women have the exact same value placed upon us by God. In fact, God has placed upon us the greatest value He could place on any of His creation. We are made in the image of God. In God’s eyes, men and women have equal worth and equal value. So men and women are exactly the same in that very important aspect, but I want you to notice the words «male» and «female» in Genesis 1:27. Even though God created us with the same value, He also created us to be very different from each other.
In Genesis 2:22, God brought the woman to Adam to name her. Now, the Hebrew word for man is «ish,» and the Hebrew word for woman is «isha.» So Adam basically sees her and recognizes her as someone like him, but then he looks a little closer and sees that she is someone very different from him, and he appreciates those differences. «Thank you, God. This is a good thing.» Adam realized that this woman was much like himself but yet very different. Now, these differences that we love so much can turn into disharmony and disunity if we don’t learn to understand more about those differences and accept and appreciate them.
There was a movement back in the 1960s and'70s that did some good things to try to get equal pay for women and elevate women to ensure they had equal value in the workplace. However, they also said men and women are just the same-identical in every way-except that women bear children, and the only reason men and women turn out different is because of all the pressures of society that pressures little boys and little girls to be different. Otherwise, they would be identical. Well, this myth has been debunked over and over again by studies over the last few years. Men and women were created very differently, and God intended it to be that way. Every cell in a man’s body is different from every cell in a woman’s body. God created us different; it’s not just the environment that impacts us that makes us different. We’re created to be different because God intended for man and woman to complement each other rather than compete with each other.
But most couples are always trying to change each other. Husbands are trying to change their wives, and really what they’re trying to do is say, «I think you need to be more like me because I don’t understand you.» You know, «I’m being normal here; you’re not normal. You need to change to be more like me.» That’s really what we’re saying when we try to change our spouse. And a lot of wives are thinking, «I don’t understand you. I mean, why aren’t you more like me? Why aren’t you more normal like I am?» We’re always trying to change each other rather than accepting the fact that God created us to be different-to complement each other.
Well, let’s go back to Genesis 2:7. It says the time came when the Lord formed a man’s body from the dust of the ground and breathed into it the breath of life, and man became a living person. Then in Genesis 2:22, «Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib He had taken out of the man, and He brought her to the man.» So God created man from the dust of the ground, but God creates woman from the soul of man. That’s why women tend to be connectors-soul connectors. They want a deep soul connection. Men tend to be more compartmentalized in the way they think. God created men and women very differently, and if you don’t understand those differences, the misunderstandings will mess up your marriage. Those misunderstandings cause a lot of conflict.
Now, I know God created every man different from every other man, and God created every woman different from every other woman. You’re completely unique, and I know the differences I’m going to describe won’t fit every woman and every man perfectly. But women tend to be connectors, and most men tend to be compartmentalized. Now, authors Bill and Pam Farrel describe the differences between men and women in this way, and I love this word picture because you will never forget it. They say that men are like waffles and women are like spaghetti. Men are like waffles not because they waffle on decision-making, but because they process life in boxes. Just as a waffle has little boxes, men process life in boxes. Now, the boxes are all separate from each other, but they hold certain thoughts and activities. They’re all convenient holding boxes.
Our thinking is divided into boxes that have room for one issue and one issue only. The first issue of life goes in the first box, the second issue of life goes in the second box, the third issue goes in the third box, and so forth. The typical man lives in only one box at a time. When a man is at work, he’s in the work box. When he’s in the garage tinkering around, he’s in the garage box. When he’s in front of a television or computer screen, he’s simply watching the screen. That’s why, ladies, he looks like he’s in a trance and can ignore everything going on around him. Men tend to spend most of their time in boxes where they feel like they’re succeeding, where they feel good about themselves.
Now, in contrast to a man’s waffle-like approach to life and thinking, most women process life like this: a plate of spaghetti. Now, you’ll notice this plate of spaghetti is made up of all these individual noodles that all touch one another. If you followed one of the noodles around the plate, it would intersect a lot of other noodles, and you might even switch to another noodle seamlessly as you followed one noodle into another. Now, that is how most women process life; every thought and issue is connected to every other thought and issue in some way. That’s why most women are better than men at multitasking. I mean, she can talk on the phone, make out her grocery list, plan a business meeting, calm down an upset child, put on her makeup-all while driving. I mean, now, I don’t recommend it. I’ve seen it, okay? I’m not judging, but I’ve seen it.
In conversation, she can link together logical, emotional, and relational aspects of an issue all at once. This creates a lot of stress in couples because while she is connecting all these things together, he’s frantically jumping from box to box in his mind, just trying to keep up with the conversation. He’s like, «Where is this going? She’s in this box now, she’s in this box… How did she tie all these things together?» You know what I’m talking about, right? Now, ladies, you have to understand that there are actually boxes in a man’s waffle that contain no words. There are just thoughts in those boxes, and those thoughts don’t turn into words. They’re just thoughts about past events or work or pleasant experiences, and those thoughts never formulate into words.
And he’s as happy as can be in a wordless box. To make matters worse, ladies, it’s even more difficult because some of those wordless boxes don’t even contain thoughts. It’s true: there are some boxes in a man’s waffle that are empty, blank boxes, and to relieve stress in his life, he will park in one of those blank boxes to relax. And, man, it’s amazing! But every time we park in one of those blank boxes, our wives will notice. Every time she’ll think that it must be a good time to talk, I guess, because we look real relaxed and we’re in this trance. So she’ll ask that terrifying question: «What are you thinking about, sweetheart?»
Ladies, you need to understand that when you ask the question, «What are you thinking about, sweetheart?» and he’s parked in one of those blank boxes, immediately he’s going to panic because he’s thinking, «If I tell the truth that I’m not thinking about anything, she’ll think I’m lying,» because she can’t imagine a moment without having words in her mind. If he does say, «Oh, nothing,» she' ll think he must be thinking about something that he’s trying to hide from her. Not wanting to disappoint his wife, you’ll see a man’s eyes start darting back and forth as he tries to find some box in close proximity that actually has some words in it. And if he doesn’t find that box quickly, then she becomes suspicious.
So here’s the key, ladies: this is the whole reason why you came to church today — for me to share with you this truth. Whenever you ask your husband, «What are you thinking about, sweetheart?» and he says «nothing,» it’s sad, but it’s true. He’s thinking about nothing; there’s nothing going on up there. Yeah, there saved you a lot of trouble, didn’t it? Just trying to help you understand.
Now here’s the real key, though-look at Romans 15:7: «Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you in order to bring praise to God.» Here’s the point: men and women are designed differently, and those differences were designed for a purpose-to complement each other, not to create conflict. But for that to happen, we have to understand each other. We have to understand, accept, and appreciate those differences. And we need God’s power to do that. We need God’s wisdom to be more understanding; we need God’s wisdom to stop trying to change the other.
Let me illustrate it this way: I know that there are a lot of men who, when they look at their wives, think, «I don’t understand her. Why isn’t she more like me? Why does she process life that way? I mean, why in conversation does she jump all around? I thought she wanted me to fix this problem, and now that’s not what she wanted at all. Why does she want me to be different? I don’t get it.» So, really what men are doing is trying to change the spaghetti-it’s like putting syrup on the spaghetti, and unless you’re Will Ferrell in Elf, that’s not a good thing. But that’s what we try to do.
And then a lot of women say, «I wish I could change my husband. I mean, why isn’t he more engaged in conversation? Why doesn’t he understand that I’m just wanting connection? Why isn’t he more like me? Why does he process life like that?» What you’re doing is pouring spaghetti sauce on a waffle. That’s fun and all, but there’s a lot more serious ramifications to it because that’s what we try to do in many of our relationships. We’re always trying to change the other person. It’s really easy for us to see the areas where they need to change, and many times, it’s personality areas-the way God created them. You know, «You need to change to be more like me.» Sometimes it’s character flaws, and we’re not looking at our character flaws, but we can point out theirs, and it causes so many problems. God wants us to learn to accept the fact that He’s made men and women differently-that He’s made each of us uniquely. We learn to accept, understand, and appreciate those differences, and that’s why you have conflict in a marriage relationship.
That conflict can bring you a lot closer if you work through it effectively, because if you never had conflict, it would mean you’re just the same or you’re lying. Usually, if there’s no conflict, then there’s a lot of lying-someone’s not telling the truth. Because once you tell the truth, those differences come out-the differences in your feelings, what you feel, and the way you think. Those differences begin to come out, and then it causes conflict, disagreements, and misunderstandings. But the misunderstanding is your greatest opportunity to grow in understanding. If you’ll come to that place of acceptance-accept them, stop trying to change them, and start working on yourself in the areas you need to change.
In Genesis 2:25, it says, «Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.» Before sin entered the garden, they were both naked and unashamed. Now, of course, they were naked physically, but this is talking about something much deeper. They were authentic-totally honest. They could be free to be themselves completely, with nothing hidden-totally open with their feelings. They were totally accepted. There was total acceptance, and that’s what God’s desire is for the marriage relationship — total acceptance.
But then look at Genesis 3:7: «Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.» After they sinned because of their shame, they sewed fig leaves together-to cover up, really, to cover up spiritually, yes, to cover up physically. They sewed spiritual fig leaves together, really to try to cover up their shame, to keep themselves from being truly seen by each other. They started covering up their faults and their sins-covering up their true feelings. Why? Because of the fear of rejection. Fear entered the relationship. When sin enters, then it creates shame, and shame creates that fear-that wanting to hide. They started hiding from each other and then hiding from God.
Look at the next passage in Genesis 3:8: «Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.» But the Lord God called to the man, «Where are you?» God called out, «Where are you?» Now, God knew exactly where they were. I mean, you can’t hide from God; He sees everything that we do. He knows all of our motives-even the motives that we aren’t even in touch with. God knows everything about us, so we can’t hide from God. But they were trying to hide from God. Why? Because of their shame-they wanted to hide from God.
And they started this hide-and-seek, this cover-up. God saw right where they were, and He knew where they were. He wasn’t asking, «Where are you?» to find out where they were; He asked, «Where are you?» to wake them up to see where they were spiritually disconnected from God-trying to hide. And so many times, because of our shame-because we live in a broken, fallen world- and every one of us has this sinful flesh, we bring that into a marriage relationship. This bent toward selfishness has caused havoc in relationships -two people just trying to get their way. And so you bring that into the relationship; there are going to be problems. Many times, we try to hide from each other because of a fear of rejection. We don’t share our true feelings; we don’t want to admit our real faults, secret sins, and it creates distance and separation. It creates a shallow relationship rather than one that goes to the depth of total honesty that works through conflict and comes out with intimacy.
So they were hiding from God. One of the things men need to realize is that because we were made most of us to think in compartments and process life in compartments — and that’s the way God made most men, and it’s a good thing because it helps us deal with life — the enemy can use that if we let him. When we live in those compartments, we develop a secret compartment that’s kind of hidden away. You know, I think a lot of times, men get into pornography and keep that hidden away in that secret compartment, and then still love your wife. «I love my wife like crazy!» But then you’re doing this, but you can’t keep it separate in your mind. You don’t let your conscience come together, and it creates so much destruction in a relationship.
So men, we have to understand that those compartments don’t have anything to do with character. In fact, to have integrity-the word integrity comes from the word integer, which means whole number. So we need wholeness, and there can’t be any secret compartments in the marriage relationship. We have to learn to be honest, and the scariest thing you’ll ever do, the greatest risk you’ll ever take is to be totally honest about your faults and your struggles, your sins, your mess-ups, your feelings, your fears. That’s the greatest risk. Why? Because you’re risking rejection. That’s the greatest risk you’ll ever take. But that’s the only way you can be known and loved.
Our deep need is to be completely known and completely loved, but because we want to be completely loved, we’re afraid to be completely known. But the only way you can be completely loved is to be completely known, and that’s why God can love you completely-because He knows you. You can’t hide from Him; there are no secret compartments with God. And so we can be honest with God; we can be honest with others. That’s why there’s no understanding without honesty. There’s no true understanding without honesty; so don’t hide-confide. If you’ve got a secret compartment, confide to a friend that you know, «Hey, I’ve got to be honest with you. You know, I need your accountability. I’ve got to be honest with you.» Be honest with your spouse because when those walls begin to break down, you become whole. You become whole; it doesn’t change the way you process life, but you become whole in your spirit. There’s no compartments in your spirit, and there are no compartments in your relationship that are hidden away.
That brings you to a whole new depth. John Eldredge, in his classic book «Wild at Heart» says, «When man was created, he was created at a time of war.» When Adam came on the scene in Genesis, a war was raging-it was a war between good and evil, between God and Satan. It was a cosmic clash that had been going on for eons of time, and then man entered the picture in a world at war. Therefore, man was created to fight and win great battles. Men were created as warriors. God created you men to be warriors, and today we have enemies coming against the family. Everything in our society seems to be trying to tear down marriages and tear down families. Our culture is just coming against strong and deep relationships. We’re in a battle, and we have to answer the battle cry. We have to fight and win great battles for our families. We have to fight for our marriages. If you’re married, if you’ve got a family, man, you have got to fight!
And we have to fight for our integrity every day. We have to fight to overcome the baggage from our past because we all carry a lot of baggage with us from our past failures, sins, and mistakes. So men, we are to be warriors, but tender warriors. Our wives desire a man who’s a tender warrior- a man who is willing to go out and fight great battles for the family, to fight great battles in life for God, but also to be tender and connect on a deep and emotional level. Now, why is that? Because they want a man to reflect the image of the God they love. God created man in His own image, and what is God like? God is a warrior; He is strong and powerful; He fights for us. But He’s also tender and close. He’s close to the brokenhearted; He cares, He listens, He hears every prayer. That’s the God that we love.
A woman was designed and created by God to have this desire to be in a relationship with her God, who is a warrior but tender and close. If she’s going to be in a relationship with a man in the marriage relationship, she wants a man who reflects the image of the God she loves. That’s why she wants you to be tender and yet tough. And I’m telling you from my experience, that’s impossible-except depending on God each and every moment. There are so many times when I am tough because I’m angry and I’m frustrated. I’m tough at the wrong time for selfish reasons. There are times I need to be tough and fight great battles and be a warrior, but I’m a warrior. And I’m telling you, men, that’s why we need God’s power.
But most men don’t even realize we’re in a battle. You’re in a battle-it’s a battle that rages every single day, every single moment. Jesus warned us about this battle in John 10:10. Jesus said, «The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy, but I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.» See, we have an enemy who wants to kill, steal, and destroy. Man, Satan doesn’t want to just mess up your day. He doesn’t want to just give you a little bit of hassle. He doesn’t want you to just have a bad day-he’s out to steal your passion for life and for love. He’s out to kill your marriage; he’s out to destroy your family. That’s his goal-that’s what he’s about 24 hours a day, day after day. We’re in a battle, and you better wake up and answer the battle cry. If you don’t know how to fight for your marriage, your marriage is going to die. If you don’t know how to fight for your family, you’ll lose your family. We’re in a fight, and it’s a battle.
So how do we fight? Well, the scripture says it’s not a battle against flesh and blood; it’s a spiritual battle. So prayer is the way we fight. Pray for your marriage; pray for your family. You see, Satan will let me do just about anything but pray. You know, it’s the hardest thing I do — to pray. You know, it’s like he’s always trying to distract me from prayer. «Yeah, that’s great-go do something greater; don’t pray.» But as I pray for my family, as I pray for my marriage, as I pray for my close relationships, that’s how we fight the enemy. I want to become the tender warrior that Chris needs, and I’ve got such a long way to go. I needed this sermon desperately because I’ve got such a long way to go to daily let Christ’s power shine through me and to love through me.
We want our spouse to be more understanding; we want our spouse to change first, then we’ll be more understanding. But you can’t break through with understanding until you stop blaming. That’s exactly what Adam and Eve did. We can relate to them-this first couple-because in Genesis 3:12, after they sinned and ate the fruit they weren’t supposed to eat, the man said, «The woman you put here with me-she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.» Then the Lord God said to the woman, «What is this you have done?» And the woman said, «The serpent deceived me, and I ate.» So God says to Adam, «Why’d you do this?» He took it like a man. He blamed his wife. «Well, she did it! You gave me this woman, and she did it! I would never have done that.» Then Eve says, «Well, the serpent did it. The serpent deceived me.» So they’re playing the blame game.
We have to stop blaming and take responsibility for understanding. You can’t change your spouse, but you can take responsibility to let God change you. It’s impossible to fight the enemy when you’re fighting your spouse. Your mate, for those of you who are married, is not your enemy. But you do have an enemy who wants to destroy you and destroy your marriage. Your mate is not your enemy. Maybe you’re fighting your spouse and you’re not realizing it’s a spiritual battle. You’ve got to stop blaming and say, «They need to change; they need to do this,» and take responsibility because you can’t change anyone else. You can’t even change yourself without God’s power. So you give them to God, and you begin to change-to take responsibility for what God has called you to do. Then you accept those differences and say, «God, help me understand them more so I can accept the fact that they’re not like me. Praise God, they’re not like me.»
But understanding also involves forgiveness because marriage, and the marriage relationship especially, is about two imperfect, broken people who have a bent toward selfishness coming together to share everything. I mean, that’s just made for conflict, and so you’re going to hurt your spouse, and so marriages have to be built on forgiveness. You’re going to be hurt; you’re going to hurt them. It has to be built on forgiveness. In Ephesians 4:32, it says, «Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.» He’s saying that we have to give forgiveness and give forgiveness. That’s the only way Christ forgave us, and so we’re to forgive, and we forgive with His power and His strength. Maybe that’s the word someone needed today — to choose that forgiveness — because if you hold on to those misunderstandings, you hold on to those hurts, they turn into hate, and they become bitterness.
Marriages don’t break up because of anger or conflict. In fact, the best marriages are those that have some conflict, but they’ve learned how to work through it. They get to a place of intimacy. It’s not that they have conflict all the time-that’s not a good thing for conflict’s sake. But the marriages that fall apart are those where the bitterness just gets greater and greater over time, and they become further and further apart. That bitterness is a mountain, eventually, that can’t be overcome. So we have to choose forgiveness.
Now, I know that we cannot go back to that perfect Garden of Eden, but God can still do something new and powerful in your marriage, in your life, in your relationships that really brings something new, powerful, and healing. So look at 2 Corinthians. I want to leave you with some great encouragement. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, «Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old is gone, the new is here.» All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation- that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. He has committed to us this message of reconciliation.
We can’t go back to the first creation in the perfect paradise, the Garden of Eden, being naked and unashamed as we live in a broken and sinful world, and we’re all messed up, and we bring that into our closest relationships. It causes mountains of misunderstandings; it causes us to want to hide; it causes us to hurt each other. We can’t go back to the first creation, but we can experience a new creation with Christ’s power. You see, once you become a Christ follower, He says you’re a new creation. God gives you a new heart — a new desire to follow Him. But yet we still have the flesh that we live in, which wants to do what it wants to do — bent towards selfishness and pride. Many times, we give in to that, and we forget that we’re a new creation.
We have to let God live through us through His Holy Spirit with His power so that we can build unity in our relationships. Because the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit are all about unity- always in unity. God wants us to live in unity, and that comes out of the new creation in our hearts and lives. So we can’t go back to the old creation. God created the universe, and God created this perfect place, the Garden of Eden. But then we sinned, and the fall happened, and we can’t go back to that place. But God can give you a new creation-a new creation. If you’ve never received Christ, you’ll become a new creation when you receive Him today.
In a marriage relationship, if you’re a Christ follower, then what you need is God to bring about a new creation in your marriage. If your marriage is going the wrong direction, I know some of you right now are going through a really tough time in your marriage relationship. You both love the Lord, but you’re going through a really tough time right now; it’s getting really rocky, and you’re wondering if you’re going to make it. I want you to know: God can do something new. He can bring about a new creation in your marriage. You see, with Christ’s power, you can stop trying to change those you love, and you can let God work on changing you. With Christ’s power, you can risk honesty. With Christ’s power, you can risk forgiveness, and Christ can bring about a new creation in your marriage. We see it all the time.
So I don’t know where you’re at. God asked Adam, «Where are you?» He wanted him to think, «Where am I at? Am I close to You, God? Am I far from You, God? Am I trying to hide from You? God, where am I at right now spiritually?» And God asks you — those of you in marriage-where is your marriage at? «Well, maybe it’s okay, but we’re not as close as we once were.» Maybe it’s okay, but we’re just kind of going through the motions. God says, «That’s not what I want for your marriage. I want you to have closeness. I want you to have understanding and acceptance of each other. I want you to have that intimacy.» So where are you at in your marriage relationship? «God, we’re barely hanging on.» And God says, «I can do something new, but stop trying to change them. You let me work on you, and you give me your marriage. I can bring a new creation.»
Some of you have gone through the pain of divorce, and you’re going, «Does God have a plan for me?» I want you to know God has a purpose and a plan for you. God wants you to know that He loves you-that He has a purpose. He hasn’t forgotten you; He’s not putting you on the shelf. He’s got a plan for you, and He loves you with all His heart. I don’t know what you’re going through, but God knows, and God wants to help you build deep and rich relationships because you are made for relationship.
So I want us to pray right now, and let’s ask God to do something in our hearts to bring about a new creation. Then let’s ask Him to do something in our relationships to bring about something new, creative, and fresh. Lord God, I come before You today and I recognize that we need You desperately. Lord, You want to give us a new creation, and yet so many times we just go back to the old ways of selfishness and pride, and it creates so much conflict. Lord, I pray today that You would do something new in our hearts and lives. Help each one of us to stop blaming our circumstances, stop blaming another person, and help us, Lord, to trust in You to change us, to take responsibility for what we need to do, to trust You to change us.
Then, Lord, I pray that You would open our eyes to see that You have made others different from us. Help us understand our spouses just a little bit more today-to be more accepting, to stop trying to make them more like us but that we would become more like You, Jesus. Lord, I pray for those whose marriages today are really going through problems and pain, and they can’t really see that anything’s going to get better, that You would open their eyes to see the new creation that You can bring about and that You would work a miracle, Lord, and restore marriages and relationships and families.
Help us, Lord, as men to step up, to get on our knees, and really pray for our families, to realize we are in a battle. You’ve made us to be a warrior-that tender warrior! Help us step out of our comfort zones, to bring connection and compassion into our relationships as we fight these battles. And Lord, I pray for those who’ve never received You- that they don’t have a new creation in their heart- that they would just pray this prayer silently to You right now in this moment:
Dear Jesus Christ, I need You. Forgive me of all my sins. Come into my life; I want You to be the Lord of my life from now on. I need You to make me new; make me a new creation; give me a new heart to follow You. I accept Your free gift of heaven and salvation. Thank You for saving me; help me grow in my faith. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.