Send us Fan Mail

Click here to support Wedded Wednesday

Buy us a Sweet Tea and a Little Debbie Snack Cake

For more information or booking details, visit www.donmsmith.com

Get your copy of With Total Abandon

Manna For Marriage, "Chemistry Verses Character" - Full sermon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO2oU7XSvhM&t=596s

In Part 6 of Manna for Marriage, Pastor Don and Lisa look at Nabal and Abigail in 1 Samuel 25. Nabal had wealth, influence, and a wife the Bible calls intelligent and beautiful, but his arrogance nearly got his whole household killed when he insulted David, Israel's future king. Pastor Don and Lisa brings out three truths.

1. A spouse with bad character puts everyone at risk.

2. One spouse with character can cover for the other's foolishness, but only for so long.

3. And you can have love, passion, and shared interests, but without character you have nothing.

Your charisma will open doors, but your character keeps them open. The world marries on chemistry and divorces when it fades, but the church marries on covenant and grows character as the feelings fade. Chemistry gets you to the altar. Character keeps you at the table.

"Please, let not my lord regard this scoundrel Nabal. For as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name, and folly is with him!" (1 Samuel 25:25, NKJV)

Action steps (the 7-Day Character Audit):

1. Ask the Nabal Question every morning. Ask yourself, "Where am I acting like there is no God? Where is my arrogance endangering my household?" Write down one answer each day, and at the end of the week, confess it to your spouse.
2. Take the Abigail Action every day. If your spouse is acting foolishly, don't enable it. Speak the truth in love and call the behavior what it is, to save and not to destroy.
3. Renew your covenant on Friday night. Each of you write down three character traits you commit to grow, like humility, honesty, patience, or self-control. Trade them and pray together: "Lord, chemistry fades, but character endures. Build in us the fear of the Lord."
4. Do the right thing when no one is watching. Character shows up most when you're tired, angry, or not feeling "in love." Keep your word anyway.
5. Stop coasting. Don't let your paycheck, your ministry position, or your charm stand in for the humility and integrity your marriage needs.

Catch the full Manna for Marriage series on the Firm Foundation Ministries YouTube page, follow along with the daily devotional, and subscribe so you don't miss an episode. A big thank you to Coletin Gascho for running our Wedded Wednesday live.

📖 Pastor Don's new book With Total Abandon is out now: With Total Abandon on Amazon

Support the show