Marriage - Part 2

Welcome to Marriage: The Rule Breakers, where we dive into God’s design for marriage, tackling real struggles and practical solutions. Hosted by Joe and Ann Lester, this podcast is all about breaking away from worldly expectationsand embracing a Christ-centered marriage built on love, selflessness, and biblical truth.

In Part 2, we go beyond the foundation and explore the daily challenges that come with marriage. From chores and responsibilities to finances, intimacy, and parenting, we discuss how applying God’s Word can strengthen your relationship and bring peace and unity into your home.

📖 Key topics in this episode:

• Chores & Responsibilities – Marriage is teamwork. Ephesians 5:21 reminds us to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
• Money Matters – Finances can create tension, but 1 Timothy 6:10 warns us that the love of money leads to trouble. We share biblical stewardship principles to keep God first in your finances.
• Intimacy in Marriage – 1 Corinthians 7:3-5 teaches us that intimacy isn’t just physical—it’s about emotional and spiritual unity.
• Parenting & Marriage – Children are a blessing, but they’re not the center of your marriage—God is. Proverbs 22:6 reminds us to train our children in God’s ways.
• Overcoming Struggles – No marriage is perfect. We share our personal challenges, from communication struggles to learning forgiveness and grace.
• Strengthening Your Marriage – Take the challenge! Set aside time for each other, be intentional about communication, and pray together.

🎙 The Foundation of Marriage: Jesus
If Jesus isn’t the center of your marriage, everything else will fall apart. Romans 10:9 tells us that salvation starts with confessing Jesus as Lord. A marriage built on Christ can withstand life’s storms and grow stronger through faith and love.

If you’re looking for real, Bible-based encouragement, practical tips, and honest conversations about marriage, this podcast is for you!

🙌 Join us on this journey as we build marriages that reflect God’s love. Visit TheRuleBreakers.org for more resources, encouragement, and prayer.

👉 Subscribe now and share this with a friend who needs it! 💛

May the Lord bless your marriage abundantly! – Joe & Ann Lester

The only reason we are doing any of this is, We want everyone to know Jesus, either for the first time ever, or just to know Him better, without Jesus we wouldn’t be here, and we would have no reason for living and we wouldn’t have our blessed hope.
We don't want you to know a god made up in your own image or by your "church" or religion, we want you to know the only WAY, TRUTH and LIFE. Jesus Christ the one who was, the One who is, and the One who is still to come!
I hope somehow someway something that we say or do here will help someone out and maybe help grow your relationship with Jesus, if one person gets encouragement from this than this will be 100% success, and all glory and honor to God the father and to the Lord Jesus Christ for his wonderful love endures forever!
Joe & Ann Lester

Check out our website
https://www.therulebreakers.org/
Email: therulebreakers@icloud.com

Transcript

Marriage: The Rule Breakers

Part 2

5. Chores and Responsibilities

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:21)

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. (Galatians 5:13)

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10)

• Help each other out. Marriage is teamwork, there is no I in team.
• Don’t keep score—serve one another willingly with love.
• A strong marriage is built on selfless service to one another with the love of Jesus.

6. Money

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. (1 Timothy 6:10)

Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. (Proverbs 3:9-10)

One who is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? (Luke 16:10-11)

• Finances can strain a marriage, but open communication, wise stewardship, and putting God first in your finances can bring peace.
• Be faithful in little, and God will entrust you with more.
• Marriage is a partnership—manage finances together, not separately.

7. Intimacy

The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. (1 Corinthians 7:3-5)

Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love. (Proverbs 5:18-19)

Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. (Hebrews 13:4)

• Intimacy is a vital part of marriage.
• It’s not just about physical connection; it’s about emotional and spiritual unity.
• A healthy marriage embraces intimacy as God’s design, not as a burden or obligation.

8. Parenting and Marriage

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. (Psalm 127:3-5)

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6)

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4)

• Children are a blessing, but they’re not the center of your marriage—God is.
• Your spouse comes before your kids.
• Teach your children how to be godly husbands and wives by modeling a Christ-centered marriage.

Our Struggles and Growth

No marriage is not perfect. We’ve faced our own struggles:

• Joe’s Challenge: Communication doesn’t come naturally, but intentional efforts make a difference.
• Ann’s Challenge: Letting go of anger and nitpicking is a daily effort.

Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. (Romans 12:10)

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. (James 5:16)

• We’re not perfect, but by God’s grace, we’ve grown stronger together.
• Prayer and unity have helped us overcome struggles.

A Challenge for You

Take this challenge to strengthen your marriage:

1. Listen to this podcast together.
2. Spend a weekend together—no kids, no distractions, just the two of you. Talk about everything until there’s nothing left to say.
3. Write down your issues. Work on solutions together.

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. (Ecclesiastes 9:9)

If you need help, reach out to us for encouragement or prayer.

The Foundation of Marriage: Jesus

If you don’t have a relationship with Jesus, that’s the first step. Recognize that He died for your sins, rose again, and wants a relationship with you.

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. (Matthew 7:24-25)

• Your marriage must be built on the Rock—Jesus Christ.
• Without Jesus as the foundation, you have no marriage, marriage is a representation of our relationship with Jesus, we as born-again Christ followers are the bride of Christ, that's what makes marriage so special is we are representing our relationship with Jesus for eternity right here on earth, how amazing is that.
• Marriage is a gift from God, designed to reflect His love for us.
• Put Christ at the center, love selflessly, and walk this journey together.

And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. (Colossians 3:14)

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8)

Thank you for reading (or listening).

📖 Check out our website at TheRuleBreakers.org for more resources.

🙏 We’re praying for your marriage and your walk with Jesus.

Until next time, may the good Lord bless you and your marriage abundantly.

– Joe & Ann Lester