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Leaving a Legacy (Marriage as a Mission) Pt 2 - 357 · Marriage Life and More and Bible Study

0:06
Daniel Moore: Have you ever noticed that when you've been married for a while, younger couples start looking at you like you somehow unlocked a secret level of marriage?
0:13
Daniel Moore: They'll ask things like, How do you make it work?
0:16
Daniel Moore: While you're thinking, Well, we survived arguing over how to drive on the interstate, Amazon deliveries, and whose turn it was to take out the trash.
0:24
Daniel Moore: The truth is none of us have a perfect marriage, but God never called us to be perfect.
0:29
Daniel Moore: He called us to be faithful.
0:31
Daniel Moore: In this week's episode, we're going to talk about something bigger than simply having a happy marriage.
0:36
Daniel Moore: We're going to discover that every Christian marriage has a mission.
0:40
Daniel Moore: God didn't bring us together just to enjoy life side by side.
0:43
Daniel Moore: He brought us together to make an eternal difference.
0:46
Daniel Moore: Whether that's mentoring young couples, serving together, raising the next generation, or simply pointing people to Jesus through the way we love one another, our marriages can leave a legacy that outlives us.
0:57
Daniel Moore: So grab a cup of coffee, pull up a chair, and let's discover how two imperfect people can be used by a perfect God to impact generations for his glory.
1:09
Daniel Moore: Welcome to Marriage Life and More.
1:11
Daniel Moore: This is a podcast about marriage, Bible, and book studies.
1:14
Daniel Moore: We interview people that have inspiring stories.
1:16
Daniel Moore: I'm Daniel Moore, your host.
1:17
Daniel Moore: And over here sitting next to me is my beautiful, amazing wife, Michelle.
1:21
Daniel Moore: Hey, hey! Thank you guys for joining us this week.
1:23
Daniel Moore: If not familiar with our show, check out our website at marriagelifeandmore.com.
1:27
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1:41
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1:44
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1:47
Daniel Moore: Well, this week we're we reach a milestone.
1:50
Daniel Moore: We are in the last episode for our series that we've been doing on marriage as a mission.
1:55
Michelle Moore: It doesn't seem like it went that long.
1:57
Daniel Moore: I know.
1:58
Daniel Moore: Seems like it was just yesterday when we started.
2:00
Michelle Moore: I don't even know how many weeks we've been in this.
2:03
Daniel Moore: Well, it's uh I guess it's 24 because it's a 12-chapter book and we made two episodes per chapter.
2:08
Michelle Moore: So by so fast.
2:09
Daniel Moore: Yeah, it's it's been a lot.
2:11
Daniel Moore: Um, but it's been very enjoyable, and we do hope that all of you that have stuck with us through this whole series that you've enjoyed it.
2:18
Daniel Moore: And learned.
2:19
Daniel Moore: Learned from it.
2:19
Daniel Moore: Yes.
2:20
Daniel Moore: I mean, I think Michelle and I've learned things as we went through this as well.
2:24
Daniel Moore: And I know that, you know, every marriage needs to be built up and we need to have a purpose uh with our marriages, and uh, we need to make sure that everything that we do in our marriages, we want to make sure that we're also, you know, looking to make the world a better place and that others can glean from us the things that we've been through as we glean off of older people that's been through things we haven't yet.
2:48
Daniel Moore: So um it's just uh an awesome thing that God has created with the institution of marriage and what we can do with it when we keep our focus on God and keep Him in the middle of it.
2:59
Daniel Moore: So we're gonna go ahead here and uh we'll get started.
3:03
Daniel Moore: So this week we're going to be doing part two of episode 12 in our series on marriage as a mission.
3:10
Daniel Moore: And don't forget, too, that you can get a copy of this book, even though we're finishing up the series.
3:15
Daniel Moore: And if you've gone through the whole series, you just need to buy the book if you haven't done that.
3:18
Daniel Moore: So you can get that on Amazon, Walmart, Barnes and Noble, Books a Million, on eBay.
3:22
Daniel Moore: There's all kinds of places you can pick that up.
3:25
Daniel Moore: And if you do life groups or marriage groups, um, you can also get the study guide that comes along with that.
3:32
Daniel Moore: And it's a good compliment with the book, so you can do a six-week study as you go through this on your own and help or into other marriages as well.
3:41
Daniel Moore: So let's go ahead and get started with it.
3:43
Daniel Moore: We're going to finish up our section on Leaving a Legacy with part two of episode 12, Marriage That Multiplies.
4:25
Michelle Moore: The longer we're married, the more we realize that God never intended marriage to stop with us.
4:31
Michelle Moore: He designed it to become a living testimony that influences others for his glory.
4:37
Michelle Moore: Marriage, when lived accordingly to God's design, is one of the clearest pictures of the gospel.
4:44
Michelle Moore: Ephesians 5, 25 through 32 reminds us that the relationship between a husband and a wife reflects the relationship between Christ and His church.
4:56
Michelle Moore: That's a pretty incredible calling when you stop and think about it.
5:00
Michelle Moore: Our marriages are not merely personal relationships, they are spiritual illustrations.
5:06
Michelle Moore: Yes, marriage is meant to include companionship, laughter, friendship, and shared dreams.
5:14
Michelle Moore: God absolutely delights in those blessings.
5:17
Michelle Moore: He created marriage to be enjoyed, but marriage was never intended to be self-contained.
5:24
Michelle Moore: It carries a mission, it carries a purpose, and it carries kingdom significance.
5:31
Daniel Moore: So as we get started this week, I want to ask you a question as we get started.
5:35
Daniel Moore: Um, as we went through this whole series, what are some things that I has been kind of maybe some ahooments for you as we went through this uh 12-chapter book that that we've put out here?
5:46
Daniel Moore: Is there some things that kind of stand out to you that maybe you never thought about before we started going through this and putting all this together?
5:54
Michelle Moore: Wow, because we've walked through so much.
5:58
Michelle Moore: Um, I think some of it more or less there's been aha moments, but at the same time, I feel like you know, we've always used our testimony in order to be able to, you know, talk about those aha moments.
6:11
Michelle Moore: But I I think our my biggest thing on this whole communication is one, it's all for God's glory.
6:21
Michelle Moore: Yeah.
6:22
Michelle Moore: I mean, that's what it comes back, and it just continuously, it doesn't matter which week we're in, it all comes back.
6:30
Michelle Moore: Our relationship reflects Christ.
6:33
Michelle Moore: Right.
6:34
Michelle Moore: Communication reflects Christ.
6:37
Michelle Moore: You know, I think that's my biggest thing that it just sticks in my head every single time that we go over these notes and talk about the chapters in the book.
6:47
Michelle Moore: It just always talks about Christ.
6:51
Michelle Moore: Your marriage is just like Christ.
6:53
Michelle Moore: And whether it's an aha moment or not, I don't think a lot of us really look at that.
6:59
Michelle Moore: Like look at the relationship between you and Christ and look at you and your husband's relationship as it reflects Christ.
7:08
Daniel Moore: Yeah.
7:09
Daniel Moore: And I think that for myself, as I put this book together, it was actually a good exercise for me because it made me think a lot about the purpose of why we get married.
7:20
Daniel Moore: Yeah.
7:21
Daniel Moore: And as we've kind of talked about through this whole series, it's real easy just to reflect on just the everyday average life that we live as a married couple, you know, all the interactions that we have, all the decisions that we have to make, uh, the pressures that we have a lot of times as spouses and as parents, as the heads of our home.
7:41
Daniel Moore: And a lot of times we let that kind of you know shadow over our vision a little bit and kind of give us kind of a foggy view of what marriage should be, and we end up leaving God out of it.
7:51
Michelle Moore: I was gonna say it comes like the more mundane.
7:54
Daniel Moore: Yeah.
7:54
Michelle Moore: Like it's just like a normal kind of thing.
7:57
Michelle Moore: Like you get married and you're spending every time with your husband, you know, whether you're happier or not, you're you're that's your partner in crime.
8:05
Michelle Moore: Yeah.
8:05
Michelle Moore: You don't look at it and reflect it back what the whole purpose of it is.
8:09
Daniel Moore: And I think a lot of times, you know, the series that we just finished here a while back about marriage reset, you know, that was uh a complete series on when you feel like your marriage, you're just like a roommate.
8:20
Daniel Moore: Yeah.
8:21
Daniel Moore: And you have really no purpose.
8:23
Daniel Moore: I think a lot of times the reason we get to that point is because we don't focus on our marriages to be like we've discussed throughout this series.
8:31
Daniel Moore: You know, we feel like our marriages just don't have a purpose and a reason sometimes when we just have the everyday average, quote unquote boring, I guess you could say in some cases, things that we do all the time because we aren't intentional with making sure that our focus is to make sure that every day that we are married, that we are making ourselves available to not only ourselves, but to other people to help grow God's kingdom within marriages.
8:57
Daniel Moore: And, you know, when you change your focus on all of that and you start looking at it through God's eyes, we all of a sudden have an understanding we do have a purpose, not just as a person, we now have a purpose as two people that have come together and they're strengthen numbers.
9:12
Daniel Moore: Yeah.
9:12
Daniel Moore: You know, there's a lot, there's a lot of things that you and I can accomplish together that I couldn't do on my own or that you could do on your own necessarily.
9:20
Daniel Moore: We both have our strengths and we both have the things and the ministries and the purpose that God has for us individually, but on the flip side of that, he also knows that we can accomplish so much more being married.
9:32
Michelle Moore: Right.
9:32
Daniel Moore: And when we look at it that way and we actually change our focus to that, then I think we can actually live out a lot of what we've been studying here over the last 24 weeks with this series and making our marriage matter and making it have a purpose.
9:46
Daniel Moore: And so with that being said, I'm everybody that's listening, we're gonna have a a little bit of a little special announcement here towards the end of this episode.
9:55
Daniel Moore: So uh make sure you stick around for that.
9:57
Daniel Moore: It's kind of to do with the future here after this week, what we're gonna be doing here coming up.
10:02
Daniel Moore: So make sure you stay tuned for that.
10:04
Daniel Moore: As we get started here, though, you know, a godly marriage doesn't end with two people loving each other, it expands into two people serving God's purposes together.
10:13
Daniel Moore: And that's kind of what we were just discussing.
10:16
Daniel Moore: You know, too often couples view marriage as the finish line.
10:19
Daniel Moore: You know, they think we found each other, we got married, now let's build our life, you know.
10:24
Daniel Moore: But in reality, marriage is often the starting line.
10:27
Daniel Moore: It's not the finish line, it's the beginning of a shared mission together.
10:30
Daniel Moore: It's two people joining forces under God's leadership to accomplish something bigger than either could accomplish alone.
10:36
Daniel Moore: If you look at Ecclesiastes 4-9, it reminds us that two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor.
10:43
Daniel Moore: Marriage was never simply about having someone to sit next to on the couch, it's about having someone to walk beside yourself as you pursue God's calling.
10:53
Daniel Moore: And no, if we're honest with ourselves, sometimes that calling feels a lot less glamorous than what we imagine.
10:58
Daniel Moore: Sometimes it looks like leading a Bible study when you are terrified to do that kind of thing.
11:04
Daniel Moore: Sometimes it looks like serving in a ministry.
11:07
Daniel Moore: Maybe it's a ministry you never even thought you would be a part of, but God has pulled you into that.
11:11
Daniel Moore: Sometimes it looks like raising children who know and love Jesus.
11:14
Daniel Moore: You know, we all have that struggle when we have kids.
11:17
Daniel Moore: We want to make sure that they're in church.
11:19
Daniel Moore: We want to make sure that they know who God is.
11:21
Daniel Moore: We're hoping that they'll follow Christ in their life, but in essence, it becomes their choice.
11:26
Daniel Moore: But it's our job to make sure we raise them to understand who God is.
11:30
Daniel Moore: And sometimes it looks like showing Christ's love while discussing while the Amazon package that arrived today was apparently absolutely necessary.
11:38
Daniel Moore: Again.
11:44
Daniel Moore: But anyway, marriage has a way of.
11:51
Daniel Moore: Although I do run a business and a lot of this stuff is business related, but they do know our house quite well, I think.
11:58
Daniel Moore: But marriage, you know, it has a way of sanctifying us in the most practical ways imaginable.
12:04
Daniel Moore: And, you know, there's just there's a lot of things sometimes where God puts us in a place that's out of our comfort zone.
12:11
Michelle Moore: Yeah.
12:11
Daniel Moore: And he puts us in positions sometimes where we feel like we can't excel because we look at it in our human eyes.
12:20
Daniel Moore: And we're trying to just trying to figure out within ourselves, you know, I'm terrified to do this.
12:23
Daniel Moore: How in the world am I going to be able to accomplish this?
12:26
Daniel Moore: So again, this is where when you are married and you have spouses, they can come alongside and, you know, kind of help you through that with the help of God.
12:34
Daniel Moore: You know, putting God in the middle of all of that, um, it kind of takes a lot of that away.
12:39
Daniel Moore: And so when we look at it, that we are both serving God's purpose together to fulfill his mission for both of our lives as a married couple at this point, it gives us a whole new horizon of things and you know, uh, some goals that we can try to attain.
12:58
Daniel Moore: And in my opinion, it kind of becomes fun at that point.
13:02
Daniel Moore: And I really enjoy serving God.
13:05
Daniel Moore: I enjoy doing the things that he calls us to do.
13:07
Daniel Moore: So go ahead and share the next one there.
13:09
Michelle Moore: Yeah, God often uses everyday marriage moments to accomplish extraordinary spiritual growth.
13:15
Michelle Moore: When we step into the role of mentoring or discipling another couple, we're doing far more than sharing marriage tips or telling funny stories about newlywed years.
13:27
Michelle Moore: We're helping them build their marriage on the only foundation that will truly last, Jesus Christ.
13:34
Michelle Moore: We're helping them learn how to pray together, to communicate with grace, how to forgive quickly, how to trust God through uncertainty.
13:44
Michelle Moore: We're helping them discover the healthy marriages aren't built by perfect people.
13:49
Michelle Moore: They're built by imperfect people who continually surrender themselves to a perfect savior.
13:56
Michelle Moore: And what's funny is I've heard that say multiple times through this 24-week.
14:03
Michelle Moore: You know, you think about it, we are imperfect people, but we're helping.
14:09
Daniel Moore: Yeah.
14:10
Michelle Moore: As long as we surrender.
14:12
Daniel Moore: Right.
14:12
Daniel Moore: And something that comes to mind with me is I think of you, uh, you've been in management before, uh, where the position that you're in now, you did management for a lot of years.
14:23
Daniel Moore: And I remember lots of times when you would tell me that, you know, some of the employees that were under you, you you worked with a lot of females because of the job that you had.
14:31
Daniel Moore: There's just a lot of female employees and how they would look up to you.
14:37
Daniel Moore: And like you're almost their motherly figure, but some of them they also understood the relationship with Christ that you had, and you had opportunities even to mentor some of the girls in that direction.
14:49
Daniel Moore: They would have questions they would ask and allow you to answer.
14:53
Daniel Moore: And, you know, during that time when that's taking place, sometimes those things catch us off guard because sometimes the most unusual people that you don't expect are the ones that come up and asks the question.
15:07
Daniel Moore: Okay.
15:08
Daniel Moore: You know, and it's like kind of catch you off guard for a second when you get ready to answer it.
15:13
Daniel Moore: But then I to me, whenever that happens, you know, if if it's something I've been through and I have some wisdom that I can share, and I'm sure you probably feel the the same way about this, you know, there's just a just a peace in my spirit and just a comfort to know that I can pour into that person and maybe help them through something.
15:33
Daniel Moore: And this works with couples too.
15:35
Daniel Moore: Everywhere we go as married couples that's been around for a while, we have younger couples that do look up to you.
15:42
Daniel Moore: And you may never know it.
15:44
Daniel Moore: They may never say nothing to you about that, but they may watch your every move.
15:48
Daniel Moore: And so, in essence, not only we do we disciple couples or people by sharing with them, but a lot of times we're discipling them just in how we live and how we carry ourselves.
15:59
Daniel Moore: And, you know, like you said, we're not perfect, we make mistakes, and sometimes I think couples need to see us make mistakes and need to see us fix them, and that helps them understand how to approach those situations when it comes up in their relationships.
16:13
Daniel Moore: Right.
16:14
Daniel Moore: And so the goal of mentoring isn't to make couples dependent on your wisdom, is to make them dependent on God's.
16:20
Daniel Moore: Yeah.
16:21
Daniel Moore: So that's why discipleship requires authenticity.
16:24
Daniel Moore: You don't have to present yourself as the couple who has everything figured out because none of us have that.
16:29
Michelle Moore: Right.
16:30
Daniel Moore: We all have our moments.
16:31
Daniel Moore: In fact, that approach usually does more harm than good.
16:34
Daniel Moore: People don't need another unrealistic standard.
16:37
Daniel Moore: That's right.
16:37
Daniel Moore: They need hope, they need honesty, they need to know that other couples have faced struggles, disagreements, disappointments, and difficult seasons, and that God remained faithful through every one of them.
16:48
Daniel Moore: When younger couples hear how God carried you through financial hardship, parenting challenges, health struggles, communication breakdowns, or seasons of spiritual dryness, they begin to realize that, hey, we're not alone.
17:00
Daniel Moore: Right.
17:00
Daniel Moore: There's somebody else here that has problems like we do.
17:03
Daniel Moore: They begin to understand that marriage isn't about avoiding problems, it's about learning how to face those problems together with Christ in the center.
17:10
Daniel Moore: You know, we're back to that again, putting Christ in the middle of all of that.
17:14
Daniel Moore: And, you know, I think of how I grew up.
17:17
Daniel Moore: I grew up in a very legalistic environment where I felt like anybody and everybody that was in leadership at my church, teachers, no matter what it was, they were all perfect and never had a problem in their life because they didn't share none of their baggage.
17:30
Daniel Moore: They didn't share anything in the trials and the problems that they'd been through, and then said, hey, this is how I worked my way out of that.
17:37
Daniel Moore: You know, it's just everything looked like it was so perfect.
17:40
Daniel Moore: And in a lot of ways, I detest that because just like we're talking about here, people want you to be honest with them.
17:48
Daniel Moore: Yeah.
17:48
Daniel Moore: You know, there's nobody in this world that truly that has any brains in their head truly thinks that somebody is perfect.
17:53
Daniel Moore: Right.
17:53
Daniel Moore: It has a perfect life.
17:55
Daniel Moore: Everybody's been through something, and that's how other people learn is from other people's mistakes.
18:01
Daniel Moore: And so it's so important to be real and to be open.
18:05
Daniel Moore: You and I, as we've done life groups, that's comments we've heard over and over and over.
18:09
Daniel Moore: They are so thankful for how transparent you and I are about things, and they pick up a lot of stuff from that because we're willing to put our dirty laundry out there in our baggage and share all of the bad things and the bad choices that we made, but then we come back and tell them this is how we fixed it.
18:26
Daniel Moore: We put God in the middle of this and He helped us.
18:29
Michelle Moore: But if you really think about it, we we weren't able to talk about that for a long time.
18:35
Daniel Moore: No, we had to get the victory over the shame and all of the stuff that Satan wanted to label us with.
18:44
Daniel Moore: Uh, we had to get past all of that.
18:46
Daniel Moore: And that's what these other couples, that's what they're going through right now.
18:49
Daniel Moore: You know, Satan's labeling them with stuff.
18:51
Daniel Moore: Yeah, that's why they think they're all alone.
18:53
Daniel Moore: He wants them to think they're alone.
18:55
Daniel Moore: So go ahead and share the next one.
18:56
Michelle Moore: Yeah, your transparency may become the bridge that leads another couple toward healing.
19:01
Michelle Moore: The marriages that impact others most aren't the ones that hide their scars.
19:07
Michelle Moore: They're the ones that show how God redeemed them.
19:10
Michelle Moore: But practical guidance is only part of the equation.
19:14
Michelle Moore: One of the most important things we can do as mentors is help couples discover their God-given purpose.
19:20
Michelle Moore: Every marriage has a divine assignment attached to it.
19:24
Michelle Moore: Think about that for a moment.
19:26
Michelle Moore: God didn't randomly bring two people together and hope they would figure things out.
19:31
Michelle Moore: He intentionally united them with a purpose.
19:35
Michelle Moore: For some couples, that purpose may involve raising children who become strong followers of Christ.
19:41
Michelle Moore: For others, it may involve ministry leadership.
19:45
Michelle Moore: Some may be called to hospitality and opening their home to others.
19:49
Michelle Moore: Some may impact their workplace, their community, their church, or possibly a mission field.
19:57
Michelle Moore: The specific assignment may look different, but every godly marriage shares one thing in common.
20:03
Michelle Moore: It exists to glorify God and advance his kingdom.
20:08
Michelle Moore: 1 Peter 4 10 reminds us that each of us have received gifts that should be used to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace.
20:18
Michelle Moore: The same principle applies to marriage.
20:21
Michelle Moore: God has uniquely gifted every couple to make an impact in ways that no one else can.
20:27
Michelle Moore: Your marriage isn't an accident, it's an assignment.
20:32
Michelle Moore: Because God didn't bring you together merely to share life, He brought you together to share a mission.
20:40
Michelle Moore: When couples begin to understand this truth, everything changes.
20:57
Michelle Moore: Instead, they begin asking different questions.
21:02
Michelle Moore: How can God use us?
21:04
Michelle Moore: And who can we serve?
21:06
Michelle Moore: And how can our marriage make an internal difference?
21:10
Michelle Moore: That's where purpose begins to transform a relationship.
21:14
Michelle Moore: Because couples who live only for themselves eventually discover that self-centered living always feels small.
21:22
Michelle Moore: But couples who live for God's purposes discover a sense of meaning that circumstances cannot take away.
21:30
Daniel Moore: And I remember back when we were living for ourselves.
21:33
Michelle Moore: Oh, absolutely.
21:34
Daniel Moore: And so now knowing when we were that way versus now in this day where we are actually, you know, trying to do what God has called us to do and to to fulfill that mission, um, can you see where we've made progress and how that's a whole whole different scenario now than what it was back then?
21:56
Daniel Moore: Uh it's just amazing how God changes that.
21:59
Michelle Moore: Yeah.
22:00
Daniel Moore: You know, because when we were work when we were married for ourselves and our own selfish reasons, we got in a lot of trouble.
22:05
Daniel Moore: And we made a lot of bad choices, a lot of bad decisions.
22:08
Daniel Moore: Our relationship wasn't good between each other.
22:12
Daniel Moore: And I think it's crazy how I can look back and I can see, you know, when we started inserting God back into that, just how watching that whole thing just transform from that day forward to where it is now.
22:24
Daniel Moore: And it's like the couple that we are now is nothing like it was when we first got married and started this trip.
22:31
Michelle Moore: Well, I don't even think we're the same couple that we were a year ago.
22:34
Daniel Moore: Yeah.
22:34
Michelle Moore: No, it's I mean, it changes so much all the time because we are trying to live for God's purpose individually and as a couple.
22:44
Daniel Moore: And I think that's a good point because I think that if God's in the center of what you're doing, then it does make time fly by.
22:52
Daniel Moore: And you can accomplish a lot if you have God helping you.
22:55
Daniel Moore: It's easy to get exhausted as a non-Christian when you're trying to uh satisfy the view of the world, trying to satisfy you know, keep up with the Joneses, uh, trying to, you know, be relevant like other people around you that, you know, maybe might be a little jealous of what they have or don't have, whatever it may be.
23:17
Daniel Moore: When we're chasing that stuff around all the time, um, it can get very exhausting because that's just material things.
23:24
Daniel Moore: But whenever we start chasing around the things of God, you know, he has a way of giving us that supernatural strength sometimes that we feel like we can't keep going, but all of a sudden we do because God steps in.
23:36
Daniel Moore: You know, he gives us a peace in our heart that when we used to long for things that we couldn't have, you know, and we were jealous about this or that or whatever, God replaces that with a peace and a contentment.
23:48
Michelle Moore: Right.
23:48
Daniel Moore: Uh to know that he's enough.
23:50
Daniel Moore: And I think once we learn a lot of that, that takes so much stress and pressure off of us as individuals, and it takes it off of us as a couple.
23:58
Daniel Moore: Yeah.
23:58
Daniel Moore: And I think, like you said, I mean, even in the last five years, we've just escalated so much.
24:07
Daniel Moore: Yeah.
24:07
Daniel Moore: I mean, it's just crazy where it's been to where it is now.
24:11
Daniel Moore: And I, you know, to kind of go along with this, happiness comes and goes, but purpose gives marriage staying power.
24:17
Daniel Moore: A couple united around God's mission will often find a deeper joy than a couple chasing comfort.
24:23
Daniel Moore: And this is why discipleship matters so much.
24:26
Daniel Moore: When we mentor couples with a kingdom mindset, we're doing more than passing along information.
24:30
Daniel Moore: We're actually helping to plan a vision.
24:33
Daniel Moore: We're cultivating faith, that faith that the other couple has along with ours.
24:37
Daniel Moore: We're helping them see possibilities that they may not yet see in themselves.
24:41
Daniel Moore: You know, much like Barnabas, he encouraged Paul when others doubted him.
24:45
Daniel Moore: We have the opportunity to call out the gifts, strength, and potential that God has placed within another couple.
24:51
Daniel Moore: Sometimes people simply need someone to believe in them before they can fully believe in themselves.
24:57
Daniel Moore: And one encouraging conversation can change that trajectory of a marriage.
25:01
Daniel Moore: You know, there could be a couple that could really feel like they're just useless and they have no purpose, but if another couple comes along, a good, godly, more solid couple, and they just say one comment that can just turn that completely around and make that couple think a little bit about their relationship and understand you do have a purpose.
25:18
Daniel Moore: You are valuable to God's kingdom.
25:21
Daniel Moore: And he has so much in store for you.
25:23
Daniel Moore: You just need to open yourself up and allow him to direct you in your life and in your relationship.
25:29
Daniel Moore: So that being said, sometimes the greatest gift that we can give another couple is helping them see what God already sees in them.
25:36
Daniel Moore: Because if we look at ourselves and try to figure our own selves out, we're not ever going to.
25:41
Daniel Moore: We're just going to probably continue to judge ourselves and uh, you know, criticize ourselves.
25:46
Daniel Moore: You know, we're our worst critic.
25:48
Daniel Moore: You know how that goes.
25:49
Daniel Moore: And we never see who God sees in us because we're looking at it through our own human eyes, what we feel like we can do.
25:55
Daniel Moore: That's a good point.
25:56
Daniel Moore: That God sees so much more than that.
25:58
Daniel Moore: He knows we have the potential because he will be there to help us.
26:01
Daniel Moore: And the beautiful part of that is the impact doesn't stop with the couple when they begin walking in their calling, or when they begin serving others, or when they begin stifling younger couples, or when they begin raising children who love Christ.
26:14
Daniel Moore: That legacy actually multiplies.
26:16
Daniel Moore: What started as one conversation over coffee can eventually impact generations.
26:21
Daniel Moore: 2 Timothy 2.2 paints this picture beautifully.
26:24
Daniel Moore: Paul instructed Timothy to entrust what he had learned to faithful people who would then teach others also.
26:31
Daniel Moore: That's the multiplication principle of discipleship.
26:34
Daniel Moore: One life impacts another life.
26:37
Daniel Moore: One marriage impacts another marriage.
26:39
Daniel Moore: One generation influences the next.
26:41
Daniel Moore: And a lot of times I think we forget that and we don't pour into our kids like we should or our grandkids like we should.
26:49
Daniel Moore: There's just a lot of things there that I think sometimes that we neglect because we forget, or we just don't, you know, see the importance of it necessarily.
26:57
Daniel Moore: But it does truly matter because that generation someday is going to be a new leader and they're going to be impacting somebody.
27:04
Daniel Moore: And what they do to impact someone is going to be a reflection of what we did when we impacted them.
27:10
Daniel Moore: So go ahead and continue there.
27:11
Michelle Moore: Yeah, the strongest legacies are not built through accumulation, but through multiplication.
27:17
Michelle Moore: A godly marriage leaves footprints that others can follow long after the journey is over.
27:23
Michelle Moore: When all is said and done, the true success of our mentoring won't be measured by how many couples remember our advice or quote our stories.
27:32
Michelle Moore: It will be measured by transformed lives, by strengthened marriages, by families that honor Christ, by disciples who make disciples, by kingdom impact that continues long after we're gone.
27:48
Michelle Moore: That's the beauty of godly mentorship.
27:51
Michelle Moore: It's never merely temporary, it's eternal.
27:55
Michelle Moore: And when we faithfully invest in the next generation of couples, we're not just leaving behind memories, we're leaving behind purpose, we're leaving behind faith, and we're leaving behind a legacy that echoes into eternity.
28:12
Michelle Moore: The greatest marriages don't simply grow old together, they help others grow in Christ together.
28:19
Michelle Moore: And that, my friends, is a legacy worth leading.
28:24
Daniel Moore: So I think as we wrap up this section here on actually discipling couples, um there's a lot to think about there.
28:33
Daniel Moore: I think there's a lot to unpack there because a lot of times as married couples, we I think are kind of a little selfish.
28:41
Daniel Moore: We have to kind of keep ourselves and we like to do things on our own and uh we just don't see the importance of you know pouring into other couples sometimes, especially if you're not in a leadership position.
28:54
Daniel Moore: I think leaders, you know, it's kind of a natural thing for them to pour into others because that's what they feel like God's called them to do.
29:00
Daniel Moore: But just the average couple that just goes to life groups and just sits there and listens, or the average couple that just goes to church and just sits there, they don't teach anywhere, they don't really, you know, not in any leadership position or whatever.
29:13
Daniel Moore: I think a lot of times those couples just come and go.
29:15
Daniel Moore: They don't really feel the importance of what they might have to offer to someone as a mentor.
29:22
Michelle Moore: Well, and a lot of times we just as as we've talked about this book in the weeks that have gone by.
29:29
Michelle Moore: There are a lot of times that even as Christian couples, marriage couples, we just don't think about those things.
29:36
Daniel Moore: Yeah.
29:36
Michelle Moore: You you really don't.
29:38
Michelle Moore: You know, you don't look or open to prayer to like, God lead us a couple to mentor.
29:43
Michelle Moore: Yeah.
29:44
Michelle Moore: You know, and and I realize that it's not in everybody's wheelhouse, but we're supposed to be disciples of Christ.
29:50
Michelle Moore: And that's the thing that I've been learning that no matter how I feel or what I'm going through, God, God's and I'm just gonna put it, His expectation is for us to be out there and be disciples.
30:03
Michelle Moore: You know, it's not a, oh, I don't want to do this today.
30:06
Michelle Moore: It is our expectation.
30:08
Michelle Moore: Yep.
30:09
Michelle Moore: Or our not our expectation is God's, you know.
30:12
Michelle Moore: And so so many times we fall short of that.
30:15
Daniel Moore: Yeah.
30:16
Daniel Moore: And if we do have that feeling, like you just mentioned, you know, oh, I don't want to do this today or whatever, you know, that's where we probably need to just take a moment and pray a little bit, you know, and kind of get some direction because we shouldn't feel that way.
30:30
Daniel Moore: And I know sometimes we're tired and we're exhausted and we feel like we've given our last piece of energy to the last person we talk to.
30:39
Daniel Moore: I get it.
30:39
Daniel Moore: We're busy and a lot of stuff's going on all the time, but we should never be too busy to help somebody else out or to pour into somebody else.
30:48
Daniel Moore: If we get the opportunity, that might be the only opportunity we get to do that, and it could be a life-changing thing for them.
30:54
Daniel Moore: Yep.
30:54
Daniel Moore: You know, we've just always got to remember that.
30:56
Daniel Moore: And God will give you the strength to do that.
30:58
Daniel Moore: You know, He doesn't expect us to do it on our own.
31:00
Daniel Moore: Right.
31:00
Daniel Moore: And He can give us that supernatural strength.
31:03
Daniel Moore: So that covers that part of being a discipleship type person to others around you.
31:13
Daniel Moore: The next portion here that we are going to cover is living so your marriage points to Christ long after you're gone.
31:21
Daniel Moore: And this is what a true legacy is.
31:24
Daniel Moore: Uh I heard a saying one time, and I'm sure if I can remember how it was worded correctly here, it was something to the effect that a person never actually truly dies until someone never again mentions their name.
31:43
Daniel Moore: And that really stuck with me because someone, you know, like Billy Graham, take him for instance, every everybody knows his impact.
31:54
Daniel Moore: And he is still talked about today.
31:56
Daniel Moore: That man has a legacy.
31:58
Daniel Moore: He led millions of people to Christ.
32:00
Daniel Moore: And we all think, well, we're not Billy Graham, we can't be to that level.
32:05
Daniel Moore: And but it's not about being known worldwide.
32:08
Daniel Moore: What about making the difference in your community, you know, or in your church?
32:13
Daniel Moore: You know, it's like for people that actually do things to make an impact, not only in, you know, around the the church and the people in your circles there, but just in your family, your friends, your relationships.
32:26
Daniel Moore: Uh, you know, the more that you do to make an impact on their lives and to help make difference and change, they're gonna remember all of that stuff after you're gone.
32:37
Daniel Moore: And, you know, I just I really felt like that was quite an interesting statement that was made there because that is so true.
32:44
Daniel Moore: The day that nobody ever mentions your name again is when you truly die, because that's just from there on you're just not remembered anymore.
32:52
Daniel Moore: And so, you know, I want to make sure with myself that after I'm gone, that I have somewhat of some kind of a legacy.
32:57
Daniel Moore: I know I'm not gonna be remembered 200 or 300 years from now, probably, but I would like to at least, you know, have some time after I'm gone that, you know, every once in a while, you know, I remember what he did, or I remember what Michelle did.
33:10
Daniel Moore: You know, just it's always nice to know that we did have an impact.
33:46
Daniel Moore: Elizabeth Elliott.
33:48
Daniel Moore: Their marriage was relatively short by earthly standards, but its impact continues to echo around the world decades later.
33:54
Daniel Moore: Their story reminds us that the true measure of a marriage is not found in how many years a couple spends together, but in how faithfully they spend those years pursuing Christ and his mission.
34:04
Daniel Moore: Now, the power of a marriage is not measured by its length, but by its faithfulness to God's purpose.
34:10
Daniel Moore: Jim Elliott sensed God's call in his life at a young age.
34:13
Daniel Moore: He wasn't interested in simply building a comfortable life for himself.
34:17
Daniel Moore: He wanted his life to count for eternity.
34:20
Daniel Moore: His passion was to take the gospel to people who had never heard the name of Jesus, regardless of the cost.
34:26
Daniel Moore: That calling eventually led him to Ecuador, where he and several other young missionaries began preparing to reach the Huarani people.
34:37
Daniel Moore: I think I said that right.
34:38
Daniel Moore: That's a hard word to say, an isolated tribe living deep within the rainforest.
34:43
Daniel Moore: The Huarani were known for their hostility toward outsiders, making the mission incredibly dangerous.
34:49
Daniel Moore: Most people would have looked at the situation and thought, maybe let's try somewhere a little safer.
34:55
Daniel Moore: But Jim's heart was captivated by something bigger than comfort.
34:58
Daniel Moore: He was captivated by obedience.
35:01
Daniel Moore: Before embarking on this mission, Jim married Elizabeth Howard.
35:04
Daniel Moore: Their relationship was built on far more than attraction or shared interest.
35:08
Daniel Moore: It was grounded in prayer, biblical conviction, and a mutual desire to follow Christ wherever he led.
35:14
Daniel Moore: They weren't simply building a marriage, they were pursuing a mission.
35:17
Daniel Moore: They understood something that many couples today desperately need to rediscover.
35:22
Daniel Moore: Marriage is not ultimately about finding someone who will fulfill all your dreams.
35:27
Daniel Moore: It's about finding someone who will help you fulfill God's purpose.
35:31
Daniel Moore: The strongest marriages are built when two people stop asking, what can I get from this relationship?
35:36
Daniel Moore: And they start asking, How can we glorify God together?
35:40
Daniel Moore: I think that's a very important point to make there.
35:43
Daniel Moore: You know, Jim and Elizabeth, they loved each other deeply, but they love Christ even more, and that's an important distinction.
35:49
Daniel Moore: In today's culture, we often hear people talk about making their spouse the center of their world.
35:54
Daniel Moore: And while that sounds romantic, it's actually dangerous.
35:58
Daniel Moore: No spouse was ever meant to carry the weight of being someone's ultimate source of fulfillment.
36:02
Daniel Moore: Only Jesus can occupy that place.
36:05
Daniel Moore: When Christ remains at the center, husbands and wives are free to love one another well without placing unrealistic expectations on each other.
36:14
Daniel Moore: And we kind of talked about this just a little bit before that, you know, our happiness, we shouldn't pursue that for marriage.
36:22
Daniel Moore: Yes, being married will probably make us happy because hopefully we married the person we love and that we want to be with, and we're gonna have a lot of happy, enjoyable times together.
36:32
Daniel Moore: But again, we're human and we're not gonna be perfect all the time, and there's gonna be times that our spouses are gonna irritate us and get on our nerves, and we're not gonna be so happy at times.
36:43
Daniel Moore: But we know that though through Christ, since he is the source of our happiness, we can fix those moments, and that happiness will return to our marriages, and that's gonna be a cycle.
36:55
Daniel Moore: That's just something that's going to happen.
36:57
Daniel Moore: Why don't you go ahead and continue there with the story?
36:59
Michelle Moore: Yeah, the healthiest marriages happen when both spouses are chasing Jesus harder than they are chasing happiness.
37:07
Michelle Moore: Their marriage was marked by faith, prayer, sacrifice, and complete surrender to God's will.
37:14
Michelle Moore: They knew the dangers ahead and they understood the risk, yet neither of them allowed fear to become greater than their faith.
37:24
Michelle Moore: That kind of commitment is rare and it's incredibly inspiring.
37:29
Michelle Moore: In 1956, after months of preparation and attempts to establish contact, Jim and four fellow missionaries finally met members of the Hurani tribe to face to face.
37:41
Michelle Moore: They had spent months building trust, dropping gifts from airplanes, and seeking peaceful interaction.
37:49
Michelle Moore: Then tragedy struck.
37:52
Michelle Moore: The five missionaries were killed by the very people they had come to love and serve.
37:57
Michelle Moore: From a human perspective, the story seemed over.
38:01
Michelle Moore: The dream appeared shattered, the mission appeared defeated, the marriage appeared to cut short, but God's story wasn't finished.
38:11
Michelle Moore: And that's one of the greatest lessons every m married couple must learn.
38:16
Michelle Moore: Just because we don't understand God's plan doesn't mean he has stopped working.
38:21
Michelle Moore: Isaiah 55, 8 and 9 reminds us that God's thoughts and ways are higher than ours, and sometimes what appears to be the ending is actually the beginning of a much bigger story.
38:34
Michelle Moore: When we cannot see God's hand, we can still trust his heart.
38:37
Michelle Moore: What happened next stunned the world.
38:40
Michelle Moore: At just 29 years old, Elizabeth found herself a widow and a single mother.
38:46
Michelle Moore: No one would have blamed her for returning home, stepping away from the ministry, and trying to rebuild her life somewhere safe.
38:55
Michelle Moore: Instead, she chose obedience.
38:58
Michelle Moore: She chose forgiveness and she chose faith.
39:01
Michelle Moore: And one of the most remarkable acts as Christian grace in the modern history, Elizabeth and her young daughter eventually went to live among the very tribe responsible for Jim's death.
39:14
Michelle Moore: Think about that for a moment.
39:16
Michelle Moore: Most of us struggle to forgive someone who cuts us off in traffic.
39:20
Michelle Moore: Some of us are still carrying frustration over a comment our spouse made three Tuesdays ago.
39:27
Michelle Moore: Yet Elizabeth demonstrated a level of forgiveness that could only come through the power of Christ.
39:34
Michelle Moore: Her actions beautifully reflected the words of Jesus in Luke 23, 34.
39:40
Michelle Moore: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.
39:45
Daniel Moore: And this story, as we're progressing here with it, this part here always amazes me.
39:50
Daniel Moore: Because I do think that a lot of us probably would have just went back home.
39:54
Daniel Moore: I think if, you know, tribe came up and killed the whole party like that, uh, we know that they're probably just waiting for the next person to step on the shore.
40:04
Daniel Moore: And it amazes me that her, you know, first of all being a female and then with a child, that took a had to have taken a lot of faith.
40:12
Daniel Moore: I mean, I can't even imagine taking my child, let alone myself, into a hostile environment like that, knowing that they had just murdered my husband and four other men and expecting God to move and for them to not get killed.
40:26
Michelle Moore: Right.
40:26
Daniel Moore: And I think that does speak volumes for that forgiveness that she had and that prayer life she obviously had, that faith in God.
40:33
Daniel Moore: Um, you know, as we talk about forgiveness, forgiveness becomes most powerful when it cost us something.
40:38
Daniel Moore: Grace shines brightest when it is extended to those who the least deserve it.
40:43
Daniel Moore: Through Elizabeth's faithfulness, something extraordinary happened.
40:47
Daniel Moore: The gospel began transforming hearts.
40:49
Daniel Moore: Many members of the tribe eventually came to faith in Jesus Christ, including some who had participated in the killings.
40:55
Daniel Moore: The very people who had taken life were now receiving eternal life.
40:59
Daniel Moore: That's the power of the gospel, that's the power of redemption, that's the power of a life surrendered to Christ.
41:05
Daniel Moore: What looked like defeat became victory.
41:08
Daniel Moore: What looked like tragedy became testimony.
41:11
Daniel Moore: What looked like loss became legacy.
41:14
Daniel Moore: God specializes in turning what appears broken into something eternally beautiful.
41:19
Daniel Moore: Elizabeth continued serving Christ for the rest of her life.
41:23
Daniel Moore: Through her books, speaking ministry and discipleship, she encouraged countless believers to pursue obedience over comfort and purpose over convenience.
41:32
Daniel Moore: Her book Through the Gates of Splendor, which a lot of you might have heard of it or maybe even read it, introduced generations of Christians to the story of Jim and the other missionaries.
41:42
Daniel Moore: Decade after decade, their testimony continued inspiring people to live with eternal priorities.
41:48
Daniel Moore: And that's what makes their story so powerful.
41:50
Daniel Moore: Jim and Elizabeth's marriage lasted less than three years.
41:54
Daniel Moore: Yet more than half a century later, people are still talking about it.
41:58
Daniel Moore: Why?
41:59
Daniel Moore: Because purpose outlives longevity, faithfulness outlives comfort, obedience outlives convenience.
42:08
Daniel Moore: And I think that's just such a testimony that can be had there because they did.
42:12
Daniel Moore: They were they were married just a very short time.
42:16
Daniel Moore: And but regardless of that, their marriage now is a legacy, even though it was only three years long, their marriage is a legacy because if them two had not gotten married, this story wouldn't exist.
42:29
Daniel Moore: Right.
42:30
Daniel Moore: It would be Jim going and getting killed with no spouse, or it would be maybe Elizabeth going over there to do what she did, but Jim's life wasn't taken.
42:38
Daniel Moore: So it took the two of them getting married and having that tragedy in order for all of these people to get saved and come to Christ and that forgiveness to be shown.
42:48
Daniel Moore: And that this is an extreme situation.
42:51
Daniel Moore: You know, a lot of us will never have to face this.
42:53
Daniel Moore: And for God, I'm for you know, to God's glory, I'm thankful for that to an extent.
42:58
Daniel Moore: I mean, if God called us to a place like that and we felt like that that's where we had to go, then hopefully we would follow that call.
43:05
Daniel Moore: But, you know, this is something that a lot of people will never experience.
43:09
Daniel Moore: And so, you know, you can see here how a marriage can leave such a legacy for years down the road just by following Christ and doing what he's called you to do.
43:18
Michelle Moore: Yeah.
43:18
Daniel Moore: So go ahead and continue there.
43:20
Michelle Moore: A marriage surrendered to God's mission can impact generations long after both spouses are gone.
43:26
Michelle Moore: Their story challenges every one of us to ask an important question.
43:31
Michelle Moore: What kind of legacy are we building?
43:34
Michelle Moore: Most of us will never live in a jungle rainforest, and most of us will never face the dangers they face.
43:40
Michelle Moore: However, our mission field may look far less dramatic.
43:45
Michelle Moore: It may look like raising children who love Jesus.
43:49
Michelle Moore: It may look like serving faithfully in our local church, it may look like mentoring younger couples, and it may look like opening our home to others.
44:00
Michelle Moore: And it may look like being a godly influence in our workplace or our community.
44:05
Michelle Moore: It may even look like faithfully loving our spouse through ordinary days filled with grocery lists, soccer practices, and overflowing laundry baskets and ongoing debates about the correct thermostat settings.
44:21
Michelle Moore: But make no mistake, those ordinary moments matter, those daily choices matter.
44:27
Michelle Moore: Those faithful acts of obedience matter because God often accomplishes his greatest work through ordinary people who consistently say yes to him.
44:40
Michelle Moore: Extraordinary legacies are usually built through ordinary acts of daily faithfulness.
44:45
Michelle Moore: The truth is that our marriages were never intended to be comfortable partnerships designed merely to help us survive life.
44:53
Michelle Moore: God designed them for something much greater.
44:56
Michelle Moore: Yes, we are called to love one another deeply.
44:59
Michelle Moore: And yes, we are called to support one another.
45:03
Michelle Moore: And yes, we are called to raise families, pay bills, maintain our homes, and navigate all the practical realities of life together.
45:13
Michelle Moore: But above all else, we are called to love Christ first.
45:18
Michelle Moore: Matthew 6 33 reminds us to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.
45:24
Michelle Moore: When Christ remains our highest priority, everything else finds its proper place.
45:30
Michelle Moore: Our marriages should become daily testimonies of the gospel.
45:34
Michelle Moore: They should tell stories of grace, stories of forgiveness, of sacrifice, of perseverance, and stories of faith.
45:44
Michelle Moore: When people observe our marriages, they should catch a glimpse of Christ.
45:49
Michelle Moore: Your marriage may be the closest sermon some people will ever hear.
45:54
Michelle Moore: God doesn't simply want to bless our marriages, He wants to use them.
45:59
Michelle Moore: He wants to use them to strengthen other couples, to encourage younger families, to impact future generations, to point people toward Jesus, to advance his kingdom.
46:11
Michelle Moore: And that leads us to a question every couple should wrestle with.
46:27
Michelle Moore: The choice is made one day at a time, one prayer at a time, and one act of faithfulness at a time, one opportunity to serve at a time.
46:40
Michelle Moore: Let's commit to being couples who love deeply, forgive generously, serve faithfully, and pursue Christ wholeheartedly.
46:49
Michelle Moore: Let's be couples who intentionally invest in others.
46:53
Michelle Moore: Let's be couples who marriages point beyond ourselves and toward the Savior.
46:58
Michelle Moore: Because long after we're gone, the greatest compliment anyone could ever say about our marriage is this they helped us see Jesus.
47:08
Michelle Moore: Because a marriage that points people to Jesus leaves a legacy that never dies.
47:14
Michelle Moore: And that, my friends, is the kind of legacy worth living for.
47:20
Daniel Moore: I think it's just you know so awesome as we wrap up this series and wrap up this episode that we can you know have a purpose that we can point towards.
47:32
Daniel Moore: You know, we can have a reason not only for living, not only for being alive, but a reason to cherish our relationships, especially our marriage relationship closely and understand how we are so much more powerful together.
47:47
Daniel Moore: And I just hope that you know throughout this series that this has resonated with someone.
47:53
Daniel Moore: And like we said at the beginning, I know for both of us, I think this has been a good thing to strengthen even our marriage as we've gone through this series.
48:01
Daniel Moore: And you know, none of us ever quit learning.
48:05
Daniel Moore: We have moments all the time that we are learning as we go through this life and as we do life together.
48:13
Daniel Moore: Um, as married couples, or mean for you being engaged right now, you're getting ready to get married.
48:18
Daniel Moore: You know, you are dead, you have dedicated yourself to somebody.
48:22
Daniel Moore: And we always need to keep it foremost in our mind that yes, we love that person.
48:26
Daniel Moore: We can't wait to spend the rest of our life with that person.
48:29
Daniel Moore: You're gonna build lots of good memories, you're gonna have lots of moments you'll never forget, but there's nothing more important besides that, other than having Christ in the middle of it and making sure that you allow him to use you for the purpose that he has for you.
48:43
Daniel Moore: So as we finish up this week's episode, what about you?
48:47
Daniel Moore: Are you living your life and your marriage in such a way that it'll be remembered for Christ into eternity?
48:52
Daniel Moore: You know, throughout this whole series and as part of this book that we've shared here, we've explored how God designed marriage not just as a blessing for us to enjoy, but as a vehicle for his kingdom to be advanced.
49:04
Daniel Moore: From the biblical foundations of oneness and sacrifice to the practical daily acts of love and endurance, we've looked at how marriage shapes us, challenges us, and ultimately equips us to reflect the gospel.
49:16
Daniel Moore: But let's not stop at good theory or warm feelings.
49:20
Daniel Moore: Now's the time to ask, what will we do with what we've learned?
49:23
Daniel Moore: What will you do with what you've learned?
49:26
Daniel Moore: You see, every marriage tells a story.
49:28
Daniel Moore: The question is, what story is yours telling?
49:31
Daniel Moore: Is it one of comfort and convenience, or is it filled with courage and calling?
49:36
Daniel Moore: Are you building a life together that simply seeks security, or are you leaning into your divine assignment to impact others for Christ?
49:43
Daniel Moore: God didn't pair you and your spouse just to make each other happy, he paired you to make heaven crowded.
49:49
Daniel Moore: Marriage is a mission field.
49:51
Daniel Moore: Sometimes that field looks like a messy kitchen after dinner, a quiet prayer before bed, or a hard conversation where grace is needed more than a quick comeback.
50:01
Daniel Moore: Other times it looks like inviting another couple into your story, mentoring them through tough times, or joining arms in service to your church or community.
50:09
Daniel Moore: Every moment counts.
50:11
Daniel Moore: Every decision builds or hinders the legacy that you leave behind.
50:15
Daniel Moore: One of the greatest marriage goals you can have isn't just to grow old together, but to grow others along the way.
50:23
Daniel Moore: So we ask you, will your marriage echo into eternity?
50:26
Daniel Moore: Will others look at your life and see a love that was rooted in something far deeper than emotion?
50:32
Daniel Moore: A love built on mission, surrender, and faith in action?
50:35
Daniel Moore: You won't always get it right, and that's okay.
50:38
Daniel Moore: God isn't looking for perfect marriages, he's looking for willing ones.
50:43
Daniel Moore: Couples who say, God, we're available, use us.
50:47
Daniel Moore: That availability turns everyday moments into eternal impact.
50:51
Daniel Moore: That's the miracle and the mystery of how God works through two imperfect people who are fully yielded to Him.
50:58
Daniel Moore: And one day, when you're long gone and your chairs sit empty at the dinner table, let your marriage still be speaking, let it testify, let it stand as a beacon of grace and purpose.
51:10
Daniel Moore: Let it be said of you and your spouse, they loved well, they served faithfully, and they lived out their marriage as a mission.
51:19
Daniel Moore: Because in the end, the goal isn't just to be remembered, but to be remembered for pointing others to the only one worth remembering, Jesus Christ.
51:28
Daniel Moore: And I think that you know that just speaks volumes and what we're trying to accomplish here with this series.
51:35
Daniel Moore: So with our last episode, is there anything that you want to add to this?
51:40
Michelle Moore: Oh, it's just been so good.
51:42
Michelle Moore: No.
51:43
Daniel Moore: Yeah, I think it's just it's been an awesome series, and uh, we do hope that you all have enjoyed it.
51:48
Michelle Moore: It's given me like more of a purpose.
51:50
Daniel Moore: Yeah.
51:51
Michelle Moore: Um as our marriage.
51:52
Michelle Moore: Yeah.
51:53
Daniel Moore: And I I hope that others that's listened to this, you know, feels the same because God does expect more out of us in our marriages than just being complacent.
52:03
Michelle Moore: I don't get to just sit and watch TV with you, hitting the streets.
52:06
Daniel Moore: That's right.
52:08
Michelle Moore: I mean, we do sit and watch TV, but I mean, we do mentor and we do.
52:14
Michelle Moore: I mean, we look for couples and you know.
52:16
Daniel Moore: Yeah.
52:17
Michelle Moore: So it's it's been fun walking through everything we've walked through and then to be able to use it.
52:26
Michelle Moore: Yeah.
52:26
Michelle Moore: And then for God to even continuously show us stuff that we need to be doing and moving forward and walking toward what he wants us to do for his purpose.
52:36
Daniel Moore: Yeah.
52:37
Daniel Moore: And I've I've enjoyed every step of the way.
52:40
Daniel Moore: I'm just looking forward to what God has in front of us.
53:02
Daniel Moore: So as we wrap up this week's episode, uh, just want to remind you, visit our website at marriagelifeandwar.com for everything about our ministry.
53:10
Daniel Moore: And we do want to share something here real quick uh before we finished up this week's episode.
53:15
Daniel Moore: As we finished up this series, Michelle and I have been doing this for two to three years now, I think.
53:22
Daniel Moore: The marriage side of the lost track.
53:24
Daniel Moore: It's been a while, it's been quite a while, and we have actually never missed an episode.
53:30
Daniel Moore: I mean, we've had an episode every day, or not every day, every week uh since we started this.
53:36
Daniel Moore: And so coming up here next, we are going to be doing a series of interviews with some couples.
53:43
Daniel Moore: We have several lined up uh that we want to record with, and hopefully we can get all of those uh set up.
53:50
Daniel Moore: So we're not gonna tell you how many those are until we you know get that figured out, but uh we do have several interviews, and then we're going to be starting a new series, and it's gonna be kind of based on Proverbs, and we have some special guests with us that are gonna sit through that whole series as a 10 year old.
54:07
Daniel Moore: We're actually gonna teach it.
54:08
Michelle Moore: We've already told them you're teaching it.
54:10
Michelle Moore: We're just sitting back, no, just kidding.
54:12
Daniel Moore: Yeah, we told them it's all you terrified them right off the bat.
54:16
Michelle Moore: Oh no, they didn't get terrified, they're super excited.
54:20
Daniel Moore: Yeah.
54:20
Daniel Moore: So we're gonna keep a tight lip on that right at the moment.
54:23
Daniel Moore: They've actually been on our podcast before, so uh, but they're gonna be joining us.
54:28
Daniel Moore: But what we're gonna do is Michelle and I are gonna take just a little bit of a break.
54:31
Daniel Moore: Uh, we're gonna probably take about a three to four-week break here.
54:34
Daniel Moore: Uh, what I'll probably be doing is just do some best of episodes.
54:38
Daniel Moore: We've got a lot of material that we've released, and I know we've got a lot of new listeners.
54:43
Daniel Moore: Some of you probably haven't went back and listened to a lot of our earlier episodes.
54:47
Daniel Moore: We've done three big, awesome series so far, and then we've had a ton of things thrown in in between.
54:54
Daniel Moore: We've talked about boundaries, um, we've just talked about a lot of different stuff.
54:58
Daniel Moore: And so we're gonna do that over for the next month or so here as we get ramped up to restart with all of these interviews in this next series that we're gonna be doing.
55:08
Daniel Moore: And so uh just wanted to give you guys a heads up on that as we uh go into this next season here of what's going on with our ministry here at Marriage Life and More.
55:18
Daniel Moore: So if you're gonna, you know, might hear some reruns, that's why.
55:21
Daniel Moore: Um, we just wanted to make sure that you were aware of that.
55:24
Daniel Moore: So with that being said, though, we're gonna go ahead and wrap up this week's episode.
55:30
Daniel Moore: And as we do that, you know, the question that we want to ask every married couple to wrestle with this week is if someone watched your marriage for just one month, would they see two people simply living together, or would they see two people living on a mission together?
55:43
Daniel Moore: You know, the reality is that very few of us will ever make headlines, write best-selling books, or become famous missionaries.
55:51
Daniel Moore: But every one of us has the opportunity to build a marriage that quietly points people to Jesus.
55:56
Daniel Moore: Your greatest ministry may be around your own dinner table.
55:59
Daniel Moore: It may happen when you forgive instead of retaliate, pray instead of panic, encourage instead of criticize, or invite a younger couple into your home and simply share what God has taught you.
56:10
Daniel Moore: Don't wait until you've quote unquote arrived spiritually before investing in others.
56:15
Daniel Moore: God has never used perfect people, he always uses willing people.
56:20
Daniel Moore: Your scars may become someone else's roadmap.
56:23
Daniel Moore: Your victories may inspire hope.
56:25
Daniel Moore: Even your failures when redeemed by Christ can become powerful testimonies of his grace.
56:31
Daniel Moore: So this week, as we finish up this series on marriage as a mission, ask God to show you one intentional step that you can take.
56:37
Daniel Moore: Maybe it's inviting another couple out for coffee.
56:40
Daniel Moore: Maybe it's volunteering together at church.
56:42
Daniel Moore: Maybe it's praying together every day for God to use your marriage for his kingdom.
56:46
Daniel Moore: Whatever it is, remember this.
56:49
Daniel Moore: A marriage that lives for itself leaves memories.
56:52
Daniel Moore: A marriage that lives for Christ leaves a legacy.
56:56
Daniel Moore: One day, long after we're gone, people may look back and say, their marriage helped us love Jesus more.
57:03
Daniel Moore: And there's no greater legacy to leave than that.
57:07
Daniel Moore: If you'd like to get a copy of this book, you can go to Amazon, Books a Million, all the different places online that you can purchase books, and the six session study guide is also available.
57:16
Daniel Moore: I encourage you to pick that up if you haven't done so already and lead your own life group.
57:21
Daniel Moore: There's a lot of people that don't listen to this podcast, and uh they might benefit from a series like this, and you can use the book and lead your own discussion group on that.
57:30
Daniel Moore: So you can go check all of that out at our website at marriage lifeandmore.com.
57:36
Daniel Moore: Well, that's gonna be all for this week.
57:38
Daniel Moore: And as we go, we pray that your marriage is stronger and your walk with God is closer after this episode.
57:43
Daniel Moore: This episode's recorded in the upper room at our Connecting the Gap Studios.
57:47
Daniel Moore: This is an extension of Connecting the Gap Ministries.
57:49
Daniel Moore: We pray that you have a blessed week.