John 10:10–11 (NLT)
My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.

Genesis 1:27–28 (NLT)
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.”

Genesis 2:24–25 (NLT)
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.

Genesis 3:6–7 (NLT)
The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful, and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. At that moment, their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.

Genesis 3:16 (NLT)
Then he said to the woman, “I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.”

If a couple has been married for more than five years and there is consistent disharmony, it is the man’s fault.
-Gary Smalley, If Only He Knew

1. The Law of Priority

Genesis 2:24 (NLT)
This explains why a man leaves his father and mother…

2. The Law of Pursuit

Genesis 2:24 (NLT)
This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife…

Matthew 6:19–21 (NLT)
Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

Revelation 2:5 (TPT)
Think about how far you have fallen! Repent and do the works of love you did at first.

3. The Law of Partnership

Genesis 2:24 (NLT)
This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.

Ephesians 5:21–26, 31–33 (NLT)
And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything. For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. …

As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one. So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

4. The Law of Purity

Genesis 2:25 (NLT)
Now, the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.