Michael Todd - Relationship Goals Study Guide: How to Win at Dating, Marriage, and Sex

RELATIONSHIP REFERENCES

Genesis 1:2628

• genders

• reproduction

God said, Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.

So God created human beings in his own image.

In the image of God he created them;

male and female he created them.

Then God blessed them and said, Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.

Genesis 2:1825

• marriage

• marital sex

The L ORD God said, It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him. So the L ORD God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one. He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still there was no helper just right for him.

So the L ORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the L ORD God took out one of the mans ribs and closed up the opening. Then the L ORD God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man.

At last! the man exclaimed.

This one is bone from my bone,

and flesh from my flesh!

She will be called woman,

because she was taken from man.

This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.

Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.

Exodus 20:14 (see also Deuteronomy 5:18)

• adultery

You must not commit adultery.

Deuteronomy 24:14

• divorce

• remarriage

Suppose a man marries a woman but she does not please him. Having discovered something wrong with her, he writes a document of divorce, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house. When she leaves his house, she is free to marry another man. But if the second husband also turns against her, writes a document of divorce, hands it to her, and sends her away, or if he dies, the first husband may not marry her again, for she has been defiled. That would be detestable to the L ORD . You must not bring guilt upon the land the L ORD your God is giving you as a special possession.

Malachi 2:1316

• adultery

• divorce

• marriage

• reproduction

Here is another thing you do. You cover the L ORD s altar with tears, weeping and groaning because he pays no attention to your offerings and doesnt accept them with pleasure. You cry out, Why doesnt the L ORD accept my worship? Ill tell you why! Because the L ORD witnessed the vows you and your wife made when you were young. But you have been unfaithful to her, though she remained your faithful partner, the wife of your marriage vows.

Didnt the L ORD make you one with your wife? In body and spirit you are his. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. So guard your heart; remain loyal to the wife of your youth. For I hate divorce! says the L ORD , the God of Israel. To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty, says the L ORD of Heavens Armies. So guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife.

Matthew 5:2730

• adultery

• lust

You have heard the commandment that says, You must not commit adultery. But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. So if your eyeeven your good eyecauses you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your handeven your stronger handcauses you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

Matthew 5:3132 (see also Luke 16:18)

• adultery

• divorce

• remarriage

You have heard the law that says, A man can divorce his wife by merely giving her a written notice of divorce. But I say that a man who divorces his wife, unless she has been unfaithful, causes her to commit adultery. And anyone who marries a divorced woman also commits adultery.

Matthew 19:312 (see also Mark 10:212)

• divorce

• marriage

• remarriage

• adultery

• celibacy

Some Pharisees came and tried to trap [Jesus] with this question: Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife for just any reason?

Havent you read the Scriptures? Jesus replied. They record that from the beginning God made them male and female. And he said, This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.

Then why did Moses say in the law that a man could give his wife a written notice of divorce and send her away? they asked.

Jesus replied, Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to your hard hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended. And I tell you this, whoever divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adulteryunless his wife has been unfaithful.

Jesus disciples then said to him, If this is the case, it is better not to marry!

Not everyone can accept this statement, Jesus said. Only those whom God helps. Some are born as eunuchs, some have been made eunuchs by others, and some choose not to marry for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.

1 Corinthians 6:1220

• sexual immorality

You say, I am allowed to do anythingbut not everything is good for you. And even though I am allowed to do anything, I must not become a slave to anything. You say, Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food. (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) But you cant say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies. And God will raise us from the dead by his power, just as he raised our Lord from the dead.

Dont you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never! And dont you realize that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, The two are united into one. But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.

Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Dont you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

1 Corinthians 7:12

• celibacy

• marriage

Yes, it is good to abstain from sexual relations. But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband.

1 Corinthians 7:36

• marital sex

The husband should fulfill his wifes sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husbands needs. The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife.

Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan wont be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control. I say this as a concession, not as a command.