1) Show yourselves to be an example to other believers. 2) Compare your relationship to only one other. 3) Avoid fleshly temptations like you would a bomb. 4) Edify each other always. 5) Always be ready to give the grace of forgiveness. 6) Seek the Lord together. 7) Please the Lord, not men.
8) Observe other marriages, both exemplary and poor. Every marriage that we know of exists for a reason, even if it is merely to serve as a bad example of what a marriage should not be. Unfortunately, you will not have to search for those marriages. They abound. Don't focus your attention on poor examples. Instead, discern two or three marriages that are exemplary, (not perfect, since none exist except Christ's marriage to the church) and spend time observing them. You can do this from a distance (observing at church) or up close by getting together with these couples from time to time. Members of the body of Christ are interdependent. We all need human examples to continue to spur us on to further growth. This is a biblical pattern.
Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us (Philippians 3:17).
I have written this blog series because relationships are the source of the greatest joy and the greatest grief in life. Look forward to all that God has in store for you as you continue to walk with Him, in the power of the Spirit, living out the gospel each and every day. Enjoy this wonderful time in your lives. Keep walking in the Lord's ways and you will reap the harvest of a life without regrets.
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