August 11, 2025 • 22 mins
What if the secret to a thriving marriage isn't about finding the right person, but embracing the right perspective? At the heart of God's design lies a critical distinction that transforms relationships: marriage as a covenant, not a contract. While our culture promotes conditional arrangements where we stay committed only as long as our needs are met, God established something far more profound. A covenant says "no matter what, I'm in" – mirroring God's own faithful, sacrificial, and enduring love for us that never wavers based on our performance.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Chris Grainger (00:03):
Welcome to the Lion Within Us, a podcast
serving Christian men who arehungry to be the leaders God
intends you to be.
I'm your host, chris Granger.
Let's jump in.
All right, fellas, this is aspiritual kickoff time.
I'm excited to be here with you.
I actually love the SKOs.
I must admit they're probablymy favorite episodes.
I do enjoy talking to thepeople, the interviews and stuff
like that, but there'ssomething about the SKO that's
just special, so let's get rightinto it.
(00:24):
So we're.
Scripture of the Week this weekis Genesis, the second chapter,
the 18th verse, and it says theLord God said it is not good for
the man to be alone.
I will make a helper suitablefor him.
So we're going to see how wecan unpack this, how we can
simplify and apply this oneverse into our life as Christian
men.
Fellas, and that's what it'sall about.
And again, if you enjoy thespiritual kickoff episodes each
(00:49):
week they come out on Monday, bythe way, which, if you listen
to the show, you know I do thisMonday through Friday within our
Lion Within Us community Everymorning go live, read scripture.
Usually, we break off largerpieces of scripture, we're not
just looking at one verse at atime, but you may just be
encouraged by it.
We don't put this contentanywhere else.
(01:10):
We're not posting it on YouTubeor anything like that or making
a source out of it.
It lives right there within ourland, within this community.
Now, the Daily SpiritualKickoff.
We've even made that free forguys, so it's just a free, easy
way to connect with us, to beencouraged.
If you can join the live feedwhen I'm reading it live, that's
great.
You can chat directly.
(01:30):
If you can't join the live feed, hey, we put those videos there
so you can literally go back,you can binge them, you can get
caught up.
We're right now working throughthe minor profits, so it's just
a great way that you can justbe encouraged each and every day
.
We know that that's soimportant, okay.
So as we dig into this, we needto understand where is Genesis?
All right, so just open up yourBible Page one, that's where we
(01:52):
get started.
Chapter two maybe like page two, but at the very beginning.
Okay, this week we're going tobe talking about really a couple
of things, but for this context, we want to really lock in on
God's design for marriage andhow it's a covenant, not a
contract.
Ok, because from the verybeginning, god was super clear
(02:13):
on this mandate.
We were not, as men, meant towalk alone.
How can I get a hallelujah fromsomebody out there, right?
Genesis 2.18 shows us thisright here, because he's looking
down.
God is on his creation, whichhe made, and he said something
profound.
He's like look, this is notgood for this guy to be without
a companion, and in that momenthe made a woman Right.
(02:36):
This wasn't an afterthought,but he did this as a defined
partner for us.
So what he did right here whenhe made this happen, he
established the first marriage.
This wasn't some disarrangement.
No, this is a sacred covenantand we need to understand the
difference between covenants andcontracts.
(02:58):
Lots of guys get this mixed upand I'm telling you, if you get
this right, things justtypically go better.
Okay.
And today's marriage many peoplethink of the marriage itself as
contractual.
I mean, we actually go in andyou sign a contract, get a
marriage license, right, andit's something that we opt into
(03:24):
with the expectation of gettingsomething in return.
That's how most guys think it's.
If you, then I right.
If you do this, then I'm goingto do that right.
But God didn't create thatmarriage to operate under those
conditions and have thesedifferent performance clauses,
right?
I didn't just go to Beck and belike, all right, here's the
deal.
If you never gain more than 10pounds, if you cook three square
(03:47):
meals a day, right, and if youalways are dressed, with your
hair done and your makeup done,then I'm going to be faithful to
you.
Because if I had to put thosestipulations in place, what
would she have done?
She probably would have knockedme out, if I know her.
But I mean she would have beenin a really good standing to
walk away.
Because that's ridiculous,right?
You wouldn't put conditionsaround that, right?
(04:07):
Because contracts think aboutcontracts in business.
Do contracts always stand thetest of time?
No, contracts are broken allthe time because contracts says
as long as you meet my needs andI'm going to stay.
Now a covenant is different.
(04:27):
A covenant is binding.
A covenant says no matter whatI'm in, no matter what period,
as God's design for marriagereflects his own love for us
directly, right here.
I mean God's love is faithful,it's sacrificial, it's enduring,
he's not wavering, based on ourperformance.
Can I get a hallelujah on that,fellas?
(04:49):
And the marriage covenant callsus to mirror the same kind of
unconditional love.
And it's no secret out there,guys, that marriage is under
attack.
I'm telling you, boy, just lookanywhere out there.
Culture mocks it, it underminesit, it redefines it, it tries
to at least we know.
All that junk is wrong and itencourages you to abandon it
(05:11):
when it going is tough.
But we have to return to thetruth of God, made plain and
simple.
Marriage is between one man andone woman for life, and this is
not just Chris's opinion, it'sa scripture, right.
So, people who try to redefineit as anything else, it's not
one woman and one woman, one manand one man.
(05:32):
No, it's just one man and onewoman for life.
And as Christians, we can't justsit on the sidelines and be
silent about this anymore.
You definitely can't be passiveabout it, because the world may
be calling us to progress,right, but really, what that is?
That's just rebellion.
It's rebellion with a smile.
And I'm over it, bro.
I am stinking over it becausestanding on the just truth may
(05:56):
not be popular, but obediencenever has been popular.
So if you take a bold stance onbiblical marriage, it shouldn't
be radical Like this, shouldn'tbe a radical position.
It should be normal for us toclaim that we are in dwell with
the Holy Spirit of Christ, thatmarriage is between one man and
(06:16):
one woman for life.
It's ridiculous that it's notNow.
I'm not out here hating onsomebody, no, but I am called to
stand, to stand in truth, and Iknow what the truth is because
the Bible clearly defines it,and the foundation of what we
look around in society isfamilies, communities, churches
depends on the health of ourmarriages, guys, and we have to
(06:39):
take this serious.
We absolutely have to take thisserious.
This matters so much.
He wasn't just giving.
When God gave Adam, he wasn'tjust giving him a buddy, he was
giving him a picture of Christand the church and that marriage
being the living metaphor, onethat's supposed to be a display
for us, for divine love for theworld that's watching us, for
(07:02):
divine love for the world that'swatching us.
And when we treat it assomething that's disposable or
we try to redefine it or to fitit into what are the new norms
of the day, we distort themessage, and that's just wrong.
So we need a revival ofcovenant thinking, a fresh
(07:23):
vision for marriage that enduresthe storms of life, that
embraces the sacrifices that youhave to make and reflects God's
unwavering faithfulness.
That's transformational boys itis.
You talk about a home, ageneration and a legacy.
You do marriage the right way.
It has an impact all around,all around those areas.
(07:49):
Because God was right on this,because we're in a world where
so much is shifting and truth isunder attack, we got to
remember that God is right, hewas right, he is right, he will
always be right.
He was right is right.
He was right, he is right, hewill always be right.
(08:09):
He was right about marriage.
He was right about love.
He was right about a covenant.
His perfect design still works,his standard is still holy and
his ways are still good, thoughthey just are.
So we need to be a champion forhis view of marriage, not just
with our words, fellas, but withour lives as well, because it
has to move away from this, this, uh, what's in it for me?
(08:31):
Type of thinking to the nomatter what man, no matter what
I'm in a covenant.
And then you have to have theboldness to say what needs to be
said, without compromise.
So I'm telling you, if you'retrying to counsel or encourage a
brother out there right now toget married and you're telling
him anything but what the Bibleis encouraging us be careful.
(08:56):
Be careful Because when I meetwith guys, I'm thinking about
one guy right now.
He just graduated college.
He's been dating this girl.
I was like, all right, bro, Ithink it's about time she's
shown you these qualities.
You know what's there, so let'sjust not, you know, be
stringing people along.
Let's go ahead and move intothat covenant of marriage.
(09:21):
Question though as you startthinking about your life, are
you treating marriage as acovenant or contract?
Just be real and I'll be honestfor me, it varies from
situation to situation.
It seems like I'm trying to doa better job of being thinking
of it as a covenant, but there'stoo many times I've been.
(09:41):
You know what, what's in it forme, and that is wrong, and
that's a.
That's a reframe that I amworking on and hopefully that's
something that you can work onas well.
But being self-aware enough,aware enough to even think this
way is the first step to coursecorrection.
All right, fellas.
Well, if you, if you'relistening to the show, by the
way, we also know that everyonewho listens to the Lion Within
(10:05):
Us, it's not a Christian.
We hope you are.
Obviously, the majority of theguys who do listen are Christian
, but not all of them are.
I don't even know what thisthing, the Bible, is it even
true?
Or what does this even mean forme?
And I just want to tell you onething, bro.
(10:25):
So this episode, for thisparticular verse, is right at
the beginning of Genesis 2.
But right before that we seeGod's perfect design, where he
created everything, he spoke, hespoke, he spoke all these
things into existence.
Then he formed man, which was.
His name was Adam the first guy.
(10:46):
He breathed the breath of lifeinto his nostrils.
He did.
At that point Adam was face toface with his creator.
He said, and it says that hewas made in the image of God.
So we're image bearers of aholy God.
Right, it's crazy, incredible.
Then you flip over, like twopages of your Bible and you have
this fracture of thatrelationship.
(11:06):
God's all about relationship.
That's what we're talking aboutthis week.
It's all about God'srelationship with us.
But that severed it becausewhen sin entered, that separated
us from a holy and righteousGod.
So God is holy and we are not.
There's this chasm, this gapbetween us.
So most people think, okay, ifGod is real, if he's real and
(11:36):
there's a gap between who I amand who he is.
I just need to do some thingsto be better, right, like I just
need to be a nice person.
I just need to show kindness.
I just need to do some thingsto be better, right, like, I
just need to be a nice person.
I just need to show kindness, Ijust need to be loving.
And if I do these things okay,if I do these things, then when
I pass, like God's going to letme in, he's going to let me in
on my merit, because it's thethings that I've done to try to
(12:00):
earn a right standing or a goodfavor with God.
And that's a dangerous trap.
You know that's the old Oprahhas.
You know she said there's manypaths to heaven.
She's just wrong, bro.
She's wrong on a lot of stuff,but this one she is blatantly
wrong on.
No, because we can't earn a wayinto heaven because that's
called workspace righteousnessand it just don't work.
(12:23):
Fellas, I'm sorry, it justdoesn't.
I hate to be the bearer of badnews, but it just doesn't work
Because there's never an amountof good that's going to be
enough, because if we knew thatamount of good, wouldn't
everybody in the world just goout there and do just that
amount, check the checkbox andthen go live your life.
See what I'm saying.
So when we start comparingourselves to other people, we
start feeling really good aboutourselves, but when we compare
(12:45):
ourselves to a holy andrighteous God, it's like uh-oh,
uh-oh.
See, so we fall short.
The Bible says we all fallshort of the glory of God.
Every single doggone one of usfalls short of the glory of God.
So what does that mean?
So if we have this chasm, thisgap, we can't cover on ourselves
(13:06):
, we can't be coached up toovercome this.
What do we need?
We need someone to step in anddo for us.
We can't do for ourselves.
Therefore, we need a savior.
That's where jesus enters thescene, who left heaven on a
rescue mission for us directly,was born of the version
fulfilled fulfilled all theprophecies, grew up, started his
(13:26):
ministry, taught us, showed us,had the miracles, raised people
from the dead, cleansed them,healed them, made them walk All
the different miracles Jesus didto prove to us without a shadow
of a doubt that he was theMessiah, he was the one, the
perfect Lamb of God.
And then he said oh, you knowwhat Penalty of sin is?
(13:49):
Death.
These guys, I'm going to go payit for them, pay it in full.
So he did.
He willingly went to the crossand offered himself up as the
perfect sacrifice for the entiresin of the world.
So when he was hanging on thecross, he was thinking about me,
he was thinking about you, hewas thinking about every person
out there, because he loves usso much, and to the point,
(14:13):
fellas, he didn't just pass outon the cross, he didn't faint or
go to sleep or any of thatnonsense.
Jesus died, he died on thecross.
Nonsense Jesus died, he died onthe cross.
So at that point, for mostreligions, endgame it's over.
Right, the guy's dead.
(14:34):
They put Jesus in a tomb, theywrapped him up.
They, you know, trying to buryhim, get him ready for a forced
burial, rather, Put him in atomb, sealed that thing up with
a stone.
He's gone.
And if it ends right there,then we're all wearing black
every Sunday because it's likewe're going to a funeral, we're
just mourning a dead guy.
He's still in a tomb somewhere,right, but it don't end right
(14:58):
there, because three days later,after they laid him in a tomb,
jesus rose.
He rose, he overcame death.
Now I don't know about you, butI'm hooking my wagon to the guy
that overcomes death, thatdefeats death, that death can't
hold him anymore.
(15:18):
That's the one I'm following,period.
Don't care how many Instagramfollowers he has or Facebook
friends, none of that stuff.
No, this guy overcame death.
Therefore, I am submitting, I'mfollowing him.
And then he ascended to thefather.
He's right, he's at the righthand of the Father.
Right now he is the way, thetruth and the life.
(15:38):
Fellas, and the Bible clearlytells us, there is no other name
under heaven that has beengiven among men by which we must
be saved.
Jesus is it?
So that means we have adecision to make as individuals
here on earth.
First, do you even know thatyou have a problem?
Do you know that you are asinner?
A sin is anything thatseparates us from God.
(16:01):
Do you have that?
So, if you recognize and youadmit that you're a sinner, do
you believe?
Do you really believe, thatJesus is the Son of God, that
Jesus is the Messiah?
Is there enough evidence fromthe Bible Right here, from what
you have been shown andunderstand, believe that Jesus
(16:22):
is the son of God?
And if you've been throughthose two check boxes, what do
you do next?
Well, you got to confess him asLord, you got to repent and
confess Jesus as Lord and SaviorOf.
Repent and confess Jesus as Lordand Savior of your life.
This means Lord over everything, not just Lord over Sunday
morning at 11 o'clock, no, it'sabout Lord over every minute
(16:44):
that you're awake, everythingthat you do, every circumstance.
Marriage over your finances,marriage over your bedroom,
marriage over your career,marriage over your parenting,
everything.
He has to be Lord over it all.
And once you make thatconfession, the Holy Spirit's
going to come, it's going todwell, the scales are going to
fall off and then you're in thebattle.
Bro, you're in the battle now.
(17:04):
You're getting your butt kicked.
You don't know why, but it'sbecause you've got blinders on.
But when the blinders come off,you get word of God.
But it all starts with thatdecision.
Why don't you go and surrenderyour life to the Lordship of
Jesus Christ?
And that is my prayer for youright now.
If you're listening to this, ifyou're on a treadmill, if
(17:24):
you're driving down the road, ifyou're walking or if you're
just sitting on the john, I'mtelling you, if you haven't
confessed Jesus as your Lord andSavior and you're hearing my
voice right now, that could bethe Holy Spirit saying what are
you waiting on, bro?
And if you feel like that'swhere you're at right now, then
let's just handle this businessthat we need to handle right now
(17:45):
.
I'm going to pray with you asyou confess and call on Jesus to
be your Lord and Savior.
So, father God, for that onelistener out there, this message
has just rocked them.
They recognize that their wayis just wrong and they're ready
to repent.
They're ready to turn to you.
They're confessing you as Lordand Savior.
(18:06):
I pray you hear their prayer,father.
I pray you put some people intheir life.
That's going to help guide anddirect them.
I pray, finally, for them asthey start their discipleship
journey that I know that he wasgoing to try to do all he can to
trip them up, to steal, kill,destroy everybody to join their
life.
I just pray against that.
I pray just for someencouragement in their life
right now to help them getstarted on their journey with
(18:27):
you the right way.
We love you, jesus, we praiseyou.
We thank you for what you didfor us on the cross in Jesus
name, amen, all right, so if youjust joined, I want you to hit
me up.
Okay, seriously, send me anemail, because I got as much
resources we want to hook you upwith.
Uh, I want to give you, findout where you're located, see if
we get you plugged into a goodchurch, and also just want to
(18:49):
give you some encouragement orit could be a lady out there as
well, but my email is chris atthelionwithinus.
Send me an email there.
We'll get connected, we'll havea conversation and then
hopefully I can give you somethings to get you encouraged and
get you started on the rightfoot, okay.
So, guys, thanks for listening.
Give us a rating and reviewAgain.
All the stuff that we do can befound at thelionwithinus.
(19:10):
That's the lion within.
Dot us.
Okay, so go out there, checkout those resources.
Open up the Bible app as well.
We're on the Bible app.
I had tons and tons and tons ofBible studies on the Bible app,
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(19:32):
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(19:53):
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found right there.
Okay, guys, I hope you have agreat day.
I'm super pumped for theepisode that's coming up next on
your Wednesday drop, so it'sgoing to be a fun conversation,
(20:13):
lots of insight, lots of wisdom,super just encouraged by it
myself personally.
So hopefully you'll find thatjust as entertaining as well as
educational.
So, guys, have a great day.
Thank you so much for all thesupport for listening.
Share this out with others andjust keep unleashing the lion
within.
I've got something big to share.
(20:35):
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(20:56):
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(21:39):
Go to thelionwithinus and jointhe community and see for
yourself what happens when irontruly sharpens iron.
Welcome to the Lion Within Us, a podcast
serving Christian men who arehungry to be the leaders God
intends you to be.
I'm your host, chris Granger.
Let's jump in.
All right, fellas, this is aspiritual kickoff time.
I'm excited to be here with you.
I actually love the SKOs.
I must admit they're probablymy favorite episodes.
I do enjoy talking to thepeople, the interviews and stuff
like that, but there'ssomething about the SKO that's
just special, so let's get rightinto it.
(00:24):
So we're.
Scripture of the Week this weekis Genesis, the second chapter,
the 18th verse, and it says theLord God said it is not good for
the man to be alone.
I will make a helper suitablefor him.
So we're going to see how wecan unpack this, how we can
simplify and apply this oneverse into our life as Christian
men.
Fellas, and that's what it'sall about.
And again, if you enjoy thespiritual kickoff episodes each
(00:49):
week they come out on Monday, bythe way, which, if you listen
to the show, you know I do thisMonday through Friday within our
Lion Within Us community Everymorning go live, read scripture.
Usually, we break off largerpieces of scripture, we're not
just looking at one verse at atime, but you may just be
encouraged by it.
We don't put this contentanywhere else.
(01:10):
We're not posting it on YouTubeor anything like that or making
a source out of it.
It lives right there within ourland, within this community.
Now, the Daily SpiritualKickoff.
We've even made that free forguys, so it's just a free, easy
way to connect with us, to beencouraged.
If you can join the live feedwhen I'm reading it live, that's
great.
You can chat directly.
(01:30):
If you can't join the live feed, hey, we put those videos there
so you can literally go back,you can binge them, you can get
caught up.
We're right now working throughthe minor profits, so it's just
a great way that you can justbe encouraged each and every day
.
We know that that's soimportant, okay.
So as we dig into this, we needto understand where is Genesis?
All right, so just open up yourBible Page one, that's where we
(01:52):
get started.
Chapter two maybe like page two, but at the very beginning.
Okay, this week we're going tobe talking about really a couple
of things, but for this context, we want to really lock in on
God's design for marriage andhow it's a covenant, not a
contract.
Ok, because from the verybeginning, god was super clear
(02:13):
on this mandate.
We were not, as men, meant towalk alone.
How can I get a hallelujah fromsomebody out there, right?
Genesis 2.18 shows us thisright here, because he's looking
down.
God is on his creation, whichhe made, and he said something
profound.
He's like look, this is notgood for this guy to be without
a companion, and in that momenthe made a woman Right.
(02:36):
This wasn't an afterthought,but he did this as a defined
partner for us.
So what he did right here whenhe made this happen, he
established the first marriage.
This wasn't some disarrangement.
No, this is a sacred covenantand we need to understand the
difference between covenants andcontracts.
(02:58):
Lots of guys get this mixed upand I'm telling you, if you get
this right, things justtypically go better.
Okay.
And today's marriage many peoplethink of the marriage itself as
contractual.
I mean, we actually go in andyou sign a contract, get a
marriage license, right, andit's something that we opt into
(03:24):
with the expectation of gettingsomething in return.
That's how most guys think it's.
If you, then I right.
If you do this, then I'm goingto do that right.
But God didn't create thatmarriage to operate under those
conditions and have thesedifferent performance clauses,
right?
I didn't just go to Beck and belike, all right, here's the
deal.
If you never gain more than 10pounds, if you cook three square
(03:47):
meals a day, right, and if youalways are dressed, with your
hair done and your makeup done,then I'm going to be faithful to
you.
Because if I had to put thosestipulations in place, what
would she have done?
She probably would have knockedme out, if I know her.
But I mean she would have beenin a really good standing to
walk away.
Because that's ridiculous,right?
You wouldn't put conditionsaround that, right?
(04:07):
Because contracts think aboutcontracts in business.
Do contracts always stand thetest of time?
No, contracts are broken allthe time because contracts says
as long as you meet my needs andI'm going to stay.
Now a covenant is different.
(04:27):
A covenant is binding.
A covenant says no matter whatI'm in, no matter what period,
as God's design for marriagereflects his own love for us
directly, right here.
I mean God's love is faithful,it's sacrificial, it's enduring,
he's not wavering, based on ourperformance.
Can I get a hallelujah on that,fellas?
(04:49):
And the marriage covenant callsus to mirror the same kind of
unconditional love.
And it's no secret out there,guys, that marriage is under
attack.
I'm telling you, boy, just lookanywhere out there.
Culture mocks it, it underminesit, it redefines it, it tries
to at least we know.
All that junk is wrong and itencourages you to abandon it
(05:11):
when it going is tough.
But we have to return to thetruth of God, made plain and
simple.
Marriage is between one man andone woman for life, and this is
not just Chris's opinion, it'sa scripture, right.
So, people who try to redefineit as anything else, it's not
one woman and one woman, one manand one man.
(05:32):
No, it's just one man and onewoman for life.
And as Christians, we can't justsit on the sidelines and be
silent about this anymore.
You definitely can't be passiveabout it, because the world may
be calling us to progress,right, but really, what that is?
That's just rebellion.
It's rebellion with a smile.
And I'm over it, bro.
I am stinking over it becausestanding on the just truth may
(05:56):
not be popular, but obediencenever has been popular.
So if you take a bold stance onbiblical marriage, it shouldn't
be radical Like this, shouldn'tbe a radical position.
It should be normal for us toclaim that we are in dwell with
the Holy Spirit of Christ, thatmarriage is between one man and
(06:16):
one woman for life.
It's ridiculous that it's notNow.
I'm not out here hating onsomebody, no, but I am called to
stand, to stand in truth, and Iknow what the truth is because
the Bible clearly defines it,and the foundation of what we
look around in society isfamilies, communities, churches
depends on the health of ourmarriages, guys, and we have to
(06:39):
take this serious.
We absolutely have to take thisserious.
This matters so much.
He wasn't just giving.
When God gave Adam, he wasn'tjust giving him a buddy, he was
giving him a picture of Christand the church and that marriage
being the living metaphor, onethat's supposed to be a display
for us, for divine love for theworld that's watching us, for
(07:02):
divine love for the world that'swatching us.
And when we treat it assomething that's disposable or
we try to redefine it or to fitit into what are the new norms
of the day, we distort themessage, and that's just wrong.
So we need a revival ofcovenant thinking, a fresh
(07:23):
vision for marriage that enduresthe storms of life, that
embraces the sacrifices that youhave to make and reflects God's
unwavering faithfulness.
That's transformational boys itis.
You talk about a home, ageneration and a legacy.
You do marriage the right way.
It has an impact all around,all around those areas.
(07:49):
Because God was right on this,because we're in a world where
so much is shifting and truth isunder attack, we got to
remember that God is right, hewas right, he is right, he will
always be right.
He was right is right.
He was right, he is right, hewill always be right.
(08:09):
He was right about marriage.
He was right about love.
He was right about a covenant.
His perfect design still works,his standard is still holy and
his ways are still good, thoughthey just are.
So we need to be a champion forhis view of marriage, not just
with our words, fellas, but withour lives as well, because it
has to move away from this, this, uh, what's in it for me?
(08:31):
Type of thinking to the nomatter what man, no matter what
I'm in a covenant.
And then you have to have theboldness to say what needs to be
said, without compromise.
So I'm telling you, if you'retrying to counsel or encourage a
brother out there right now toget married and you're telling
him anything but what the Bibleis encouraging us be careful.
(08:56):
Be careful Because when I meetwith guys, I'm thinking about
one guy right now.
He just graduated college.
He's been dating this girl.
I was like, all right, bro, Ithink it's about time she's
shown you these qualities.
You know what's there, so let'sjust not, you know, be
stringing people along.
Let's go ahead and move intothat covenant of marriage.
(09:21):
Question though as you startthinking about your life, are
you treating marriage as acovenant or contract?
Just be real and I'll be honestfor me, it varies from
situation to situation.
It seems like I'm trying to doa better job of being thinking
of it as a covenant, but there'stoo many times I've been.
(09:41):
You know what, what's in it forme, and that is wrong, and
that's a.
That's a reframe that I amworking on and hopefully that's
something that you can work onas well.
But being self-aware enough,aware enough to even think this
way is the first step to coursecorrection.
All right, fellas.
Well, if you, if you'relistening to the show, by the
way, we also know that everyonewho listens to the Lion Within
(10:05):
Us, it's not a Christian.
We hope you are.
Obviously, the majority of theguys who do listen are Christian
, but not all of them are.
I don't even know what thisthing, the Bible, is it even
true?
Or what does this even mean forme?
And I just want to tell you onething, bro.
(10:25):
So this episode, for thisparticular verse, is right at
the beginning of Genesis 2.
But right before that we seeGod's perfect design, where he
created everything, he spoke, hespoke, he spoke all these
things into existence.
Then he formed man, which was.
His name was Adam the first guy.
(10:46):
He breathed the breath of lifeinto his nostrils.
He did.
At that point Adam was face toface with his creator.
He said, and it says that hewas made in the image of God.
So we're image bearers of aholy God.
Right, it's crazy, incredible.
Then you flip over, like twopages of your Bible and you have
this fracture of thatrelationship.
(11:06):
God's all about relationship.
That's what we're talking aboutthis week.
It's all about God'srelationship with us.
But that severed it becausewhen sin entered, that separated
us from a holy and righteousGod.
So God is holy and we are not.
There's this chasm, this gapbetween us.
So most people think, okay, ifGod is real, if he's real and
(11:36):
there's a gap between who I amand who he is.
I just need to do some thingsto be better, right, like I just
need to be a nice person.
I just need to show kindness.
I just need to do some thingsto be better, right, like, I
just need to be a nice person.
I just need to show kindness, Ijust need to be loving.
And if I do these things okay,if I do these things, then when
I pass, like God's going to letme in, he's going to let me in
on my merit, because it's thethings that I've done to try to
(12:00):
earn a right standing or a goodfavor with God.
And that's a dangerous trap.
You know that's the old Oprahhas.
You know she said there's manypaths to heaven.
She's just wrong, bro.
She's wrong on a lot of stuff,but this one she is blatantly
wrong on.
No, because we can't earn a wayinto heaven because that's
called workspace righteousnessand it just don't work.
(12:23):
Fellas, I'm sorry, it justdoesn't.
I hate to be the bearer of badnews, but it just doesn't work
Because there's never an amountof good that's going to be
enough, because if we knew thatamount of good, wouldn't
everybody in the world just goout there and do just that
amount, check the checkbox andthen go live your life.
See what I'm saying.
So when we start comparingourselves to other people, we
start feeling really good aboutourselves, but when we compare
(12:45):
ourselves to a holy andrighteous God, it's like uh-oh,
uh-oh.
See, so we fall short.
The Bible says we all fallshort of the glory of God.
Every single doggone one of usfalls short of the glory of God.
So what does that mean?
So if we have this chasm, thisgap, we can't cover on ourselves
(13:06):
, we can't be coached up toovercome this.
What do we need?
We need someone to step in anddo for us.
We can't do for ourselves.
Therefore, we need a savior.
That's where jesus enters thescene, who left heaven on a
rescue mission for us directly,was born of the version
fulfilled fulfilled all theprophecies, grew up, started his
(13:26):
ministry, taught us, showed us,had the miracles, raised people
from the dead, cleansed them,healed them, made them walk All
the different miracles Jesus didto prove to us without a shadow
of a doubt that he was theMessiah, he was the one, the
perfect Lamb of God.
And then he said oh, you knowwhat Penalty of sin is?
(13:49):
Death.
These guys, I'm going to go payit for them, pay it in full.
So he did.
He willingly went to the crossand offered himself up as the
perfect sacrifice for the entiresin of the world.
So when he was hanging on thecross, he was thinking about me,
he was thinking about you, hewas thinking about every person
out there, because he loves usso much, and to the point,
(14:13):
fellas, he didn't just pass outon the cross, he didn't faint or
go to sleep or any of thatnonsense.
Jesus died, he died on thecross.
Nonsense Jesus died, he died onthe cross.
So at that point, for mostreligions, endgame it's over.
Right, the guy's dead.
(14:34):
They put Jesus in a tomb, theywrapped him up.
They, you know, trying to buryhim, get him ready for a forced
burial, rather, Put him in atomb, sealed that thing up with
a stone.
He's gone.
And if it ends right there,then we're all wearing black
every Sunday because it's likewe're going to a funeral, we're
just mourning a dead guy.
He's still in a tomb somewhere,right, but it don't end right
(14:58):
there, because three days later,after they laid him in a tomb,
jesus rose.
He rose, he overcame death.
Now I don't know about you, butI'm hooking my wagon to the guy
that overcomes death, thatdefeats death, that death can't
hold him anymore.
(15:18):
That's the one I'm following,period.
Don't care how many Instagramfollowers he has or Facebook
friends, none of that stuff.
No, this guy overcame death.
Therefore, I am submitting, I'mfollowing him.
And then he ascended to thefather.
He's right, he's at the righthand of the Father.
Right now he is the way, thetruth and the life.
(15:38):
Fellas, and the Bible clearlytells us, there is no other name
under heaven that has beengiven among men by which we must
be saved.
Jesus is it?
So that means we have adecision to make as individuals
here on earth.
First, do you even know thatyou have a problem?
Do you know that you are asinner?
A sin is anything thatseparates us from God.
(16:01):
Do you have that?
So, if you recognize and youadmit that you're a sinner, do
you believe?
Do you really believe, thatJesus is the Son of God, that
Jesus is the Messiah?
Is there enough evidence fromthe Bible Right here, from what
you have been shown andunderstand, believe that Jesus
(16:22):
is the son of God?
And if you've been throughthose two check boxes, what do
you do next?
Well, you got to confess him asLord, you got to repent and
confess Jesus as Lord and SaviorOf.
Repent and confess Jesus as Lordand Savior of your life.
This means Lord over everything, not just Lord over Sunday
morning at 11 o'clock, no, it'sabout Lord over every minute
(16:44):
that you're awake, everythingthat you do, every circumstance.
Marriage over your finances,marriage over your bedroom,
marriage over your career,marriage over your parenting,
everything.
He has to be Lord over it all.
And once you make thatconfession, the Holy Spirit's
going to come, it's going todwell, the scales are going to
fall off and then you're in thebattle.
Bro, you're in the battle now.
(17:04):
You're getting your butt kicked.
You don't know why, but it'sbecause you've got blinders on.
But when the blinders come off,you get word of God.
But it all starts with thatdecision.
Why don't you go and surrenderyour life to the Lordship of
Jesus Christ?
And that is my prayer for youright now.
If you're listening to this, ifyou're on a treadmill, if
(17:24):
you're driving down the road, ifyou're walking or if you're
just sitting on the john, I'mtelling you, if you haven't
confessed Jesus as your Lord andSavior and you're hearing my
voice right now, that could bethe Holy Spirit saying what are
you waiting on, bro?
And if you feel like that'swhere you're at right now, then
let's just handle this businessthat we need to handle right now
(17:45):
.
I'm going to pray with you asyou confess and call on Jesus to
be your Lord and Savior.
So, father God, for that onelistener out there, this message
has just rocked them.
They recognize that their wayis just wrong and they're ready
to repent.
They're ready to turn to you.
They're confessing you as Lordand Savior.
(18:06):
I pray you hear their prayer,father.
I pray you put some people intheir life.
That's going to help guide anddirect them.
I pray, finally, for them asthey start their discipleship
journey that I know that he wasgoing to try to do all he can to
trip them up, to steal, kill,destroy everybody to join their
life.
I just pray against that.
I pray just for someencouragement in their life
right now to help them getstarted on their journey with
(18:27):
you the right way.
We love you, jesus, we praiseyou.
We thank you for what you didfor us on the cross in Jesus
name, amen, all right, so if youjust joined, I want you to hit
me up.
Okay, seriously, send me anemail, because I got as much
resources we want to hook you upwith.
Uh, I want to give you, findout where you're located, see if
we get you plugged into a goodchurch, and also just want to
(18:49):
give you some encouragement orit could be a lady out there as
well, but my email is chris atthelionwithinus.
Send me an email there.
We'll get connected, we'll havea conversation and then
hopefully I can give you somethings to get you encouraged and
get you started on the rightfoot, okay.
So, guys, thanks for listening.
Give us a rating and reviewAgain.
All the stuff that we do can befound at thelionwithinus.
(19:10):
That's the lion within.
Dot us.
Okay, so go out there, checkout those resources.
Open up the Bible app as well.
We're on the Bible app.
I had tons and tons and tons ofBible studies on the Bible app,
so hopefully you enjoy those.
Start your daily spiritualkickoff that's, that's free.
Start your community experience.
That's a super easy way to getconnected with this as well.
Fellas, we have Lion Lunches,we have Bible Studies, we have
(19:32):
Friday Forge, we have CouplesNight.
Guys, we have so many fun ways.
We try to engage with guys eachand every week within our
community.
And then our LeadershipMastermind.
This is where we drop the plowand go deep.
Fellas, this is not foreverybody, so what we ask is, if
you're interested in aLeadership Mastermind is apply.
We have an assessment to getstarted.
It's a super easy way, it'sfree.
(19:53):
Get started with the assessment.
Go over there tothelinewithinus, scroll down to
UC Leadership Mastermind, clickon that button, or you can go to
thelinewithinus slashmastermind and all that stuff is
found right there.
Okay, guys, I hope you have agreat day.
I'm super pumped for theepisode that's coming up next on
your Wednesday drop, so it'sgoing to be a fun conversation,
(20:13):
lots of insight, lots of wisdom,super just encouraged by it
myself personally.
So hopefully you'll find thatjust as entertaining as well as
educational.
So, guys, have a great day.
Thank you so much for all thesupport for listening.
Share this out with others andjust keep unleashing the lion
within.
I've got something big to share.
(20:35):
We're making a major shiftbecause we know the battle was
real and it's time more men hadaccess to the support they need.
For too long, guys have beentrying to carry the weight alone
pressure at work, tension athome, wounds from the past in a
world that demands strength butoffers no place to rest.
We see it, we've lived it, andthat's exactly why we built our
(20:56):
community.
It's a stronghold, a placewhere warriors can find rest,
truth and a band of brothersstanding beside them.
And starting now, we're makingit easier than ever to step in.
We've lowered the barrier tojust $15.99 a month.
That means, for less than thecost of a drive-thru lunch, you
can join a brotherhood that'scentered on Christ and built for
(21:16):
growth.
Inside you'll find access toour daily spiritual kickoffs
every Monday through Friday, ourLion Lunches, our Bible Studies
, our Friday Forge gatheringsall that and so much more.
Every man needs a stronghold,and you don't have to fight
alone.
If you've been waiting for theright time to jump in this is it
been waiting for the right timeto jump in this is it.
(21:39):
Go to thelionwithinus and jointhe community and see for
yourself what happens when irontruly sharpens iron.
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