Love Dare – 37Ask your spouse if you can begin praying together.
Matthew 18:19 “Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.”
Ask yourself what your spouse would want if it was obtainable, then map out a plan for meeting some (if not all) of their desires.
Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
Squeezing The Most Out of Valentine’s Day!
Many of you are starting to think seriously about what to do on Valentine’s Day. Here is a site with many creative ideas and links to even more that will help you squeeze the most out of this wonderful holiday! Remember it’s not how much money you spend that makes a great memory, it’s how much you put yourself into what you planned.
Now for our Love Dare Challenges for today:
Find a Christian marriage mentor. Ask God to direct your decisions and discernment.
Proverbs 15:22 “Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.”
Commit to reading the bible every day. If your spouse is open to it, see if they will commit to reading with you.
Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
Love Dare – 33Tell your spouse that you desire to include them in your upcoming decisions, and that you need their perspective and counsel.
Ecclesiastes 4:11 “Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone?”
Verbally commend your spouse about a recent time when they demonstrated Christian character in a noticeable way.
I Corinthians 13:6 “[love] …it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.”
Love Dare – Day 31Commit to God and your spouse to make your marriage the top priority over every other human relationship.
Genesis 2:24 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”
If at all possible, try to initiate sex with your spouse today (in a way that honors them).
I Corinthians 7:3 “The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband.”
Love Dare – 29Before you see your spouse again today, pray for them by name and for their needs.
Ephesians 6:7 “rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man…”
Ask the Lord to reveal anything in your own heart that is threatening oneness with your spouse and, if appropriate, discuss it openly and seek God for unity.
John 17:11 “And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.”
Love Dare – Day 27Think of one area where your spouse has told you you’re expecting too much, and tell them you’re sorry for being so hard on them about it.
Psalm 25:20 “Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me! Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.”
Purpose to do what you can to meet the greatest need in your spouse’s life right now.
I John 3:16 “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.”
Love Dare – Day 25If there is anything you haven’t forgiven in your spouse, forgive it today.
2 Corinthians 2:10 “Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ…”
Ask for God’s forgiveness for your areas of wrongdoing, then humble yourself enough to admit them to your spouse.
Romans 2:1 “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.”
Love Dare – 23Remove anything that is hindering your relationship, stealing your affections and turning your heart away from your spouse.
I Corinthians 13:7 “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
Identify every object of lust in your life and remove it.
I John 2:17 “And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”
Our Love Dare Challenge continues today, but we wanted to make you aware of updates we’ve added to the Wives and Husbands Only pages for Valentines Day. Be sure to check them out and start making plans for a memorable and romantic Valentines Day.Make time to pray and read your bible today.
Isaiah 58:11 “And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.”
Choose to be committed to love even if your spouse has lost most of their interest in receiving it.
Hosea 2:20 “I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.”
Love Dare – Day 19Ask God to show you where you stand with him, and ask for the strength and grace to settle your eternal destination.
I John 4:7 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.”
Dare to take God at his word and trust Jesus Christ for salvation.
Romans 5:6 “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”
Love Dare – Day 17Determine to guard your mate’s secrets and pray for them.
Proverbs 17:9 “Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.”
Prepare a special dinner at home and focus this time on getting to know your spouse better.
Proverbs 3:13 “Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding,”
Love Dare – 15Choose a way to show honor and respect to your spouse that is above your normal routine.
I Peter 3:7 “Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.”
Pray for three specific areas where you desire for God to work in your spouse’s life and in your marriage.
3 John 2 “Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.”
Love Dare – 13Talk with your spouse about establishing healthy rules of engagement and resolve to abide by them when the next disagreement occurs.
Mark 3:25 “And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.”
Purposefully neglect an activity you would normally do so you can spend quality time with your spouse.
Ecclesiastes 9:9 “Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun.”
Love Dare – 11What need does your spouse have that you could meet today? Example: Choose a gesture that says “I love you” and do it with a smile.
Ephesians 5:28 “In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.”
Demonstrate love by willingly choosing to give in to an area of disagreement between you and your spouse.
Philippians 2:4 “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
Welcome to The Romantic Vineyard! Our prayer is that this site will provide couples many ideas and resources for growing their marriage to glorify God in all things! We are in the middle of the Love Dare Challenge taken from the book of the same name. We are posting two challenges each day for a total of 40 leading up to Valentine’s Day. There is still time to take part, even if you start in the middle.
Notice the tabs at the top – these will lead you into different “rooms” in our vineyard; each one with it’s own purpose. Take time to meander around – we hope you enjoy your visit enough to come back often. l’amour est dans l’air!
Think of a way to greet your spouse today to reflect your love for them, and then do it with a smile and enthusiasm.
I Peter 5:14 “Greet one another with the kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.”
Do something out of the ordinary today for your spouse.
Romans 5:8 “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Love Dare – 7On a sheet of paper, write out positive things about your spouse. At some point during the day, pick a positive attribute from the list and thank your spouse for having the characteristic.
I Corinthians 13:7 “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
Share with your spouse how glad you are about a success he or she recently enjoyed.
Song of Solomon 8:6 “Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord.”
Love Dare – 5Ask your spouse to tell you three things that cause him or her to be uncomfortable or irritated with you. You must do so without attacking them.
Proverbs 27:14 “Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, will be counted as cursing.”
Choose to react to tough circumstances in your marriage in loving ways instead of with irritation.
Proverbs 16:32 “Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.”
Buy your spouse something that says, “I was thinking about you today.”
Romans 12:10 “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.”
Contact your spouse sometime during the day and ask how he or she is doing and if there is anything you could do for them.
Psalm 139: 17-18 “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.”
Today we offer the first two assignments in the Love Dare Challenge. We will post two a day Monday through Friday. If any of the challenges seem too much to do together – use Saturday and Sunday to divide them as needed. We pray this will be a healthy, rewarding exercise for you. If you would like to purchase the Love Dare book click here for ordering information. Here is how God used this challenge to help one wife:
A thankful firefighter’s wife, December 3, 2008,
God used this book to restore my marriage
If you want to see your spouse the way God see them, then this book is for you. It taught me how to really love my husband a (New York City Firefighter) in a way I never knew how. No matter where your marriage is.. you can be newly married or be together for 50 years. Everyone can learn something great, wonderful and new from this book. It’s a easy read, filled with something different to look forward to each day. It proves that with God’s help we can make Love a beautiful choice every day, every minute and every second of the day. I challenge whoever reads this to take a leap of faith and I “Dare You” to read this book. Your life, your marriage will never be the same.
__________________________________________
Resolve to say nothing negative about your spouse today.
Ephesians 4:2 “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,”
Do at least one unexpected gesture to your spouse as an act of kindness.
Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
Many of you have probably heard about or even seen the recent movie, Fireproof, about one man’s story to save his marriage. It is a powerful story that is worth seeing. It will soon be available on DVD, and we couldn’t recommend it more highly. In the movie the lead character, played by Kirk Cameron, realizes that his marriage on the brink of divorce. He is challenged by his father to take part in a 40 day Love Dare Challenge. Reluctantly he agrees and the movie tells his story.
We would like to make this love dare challenge available to any of you that would like to participate. Starting on Monday we will post two challenges a day, five days a week giving you the weekends to catch up. The final two challenges will be completed on Friday, February 13th. What a great way to countdown the days before Valentine’s Day. So, are you up for the challenge? Let us know by e-mailing us at debiwalter@gmail.com
(NOTE: taking part in the challenge will be a good exercise for all of us whether you’re marriage is strong or in need of help.)
Posted by Tom and Debi
The Romantic Vineyard 