and worship your holy name. We're thankful that we can gather together as a people, as your body, the church. Lord, and worship you together. We pray this morning that this lesson would be profitable and that the children, Lord, and the teenagers, Lord, that are being taught also, Lord, that you would bless those classes as well. Be with us now, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. So this is our fifth lesson on marriage. Last time we looked at the basic responsibilities that a husband and a wife are given in Ephesians chapter 5. Those basic responsibilities is that husbands are required to love their wives and wives are to reverence their husbands. In this lesson we're going to focus on shortcomings in marriage. Up to this point in the study we focused on the structure and the duties of marriage. And now let's turn our attention to identifying some of the things that go wrong in marriages. It isn't long after the wedding when the husband and wife begin to notice shortcomings in their spouse that flew under the radar before. When a man is trying to win the affections of a woman, he is typically on his best behavior. A woman who is being courted by a man likewise is putting her best foot forward if you will. As they get to know one another flaws become more visible and so it is when they are married that these things begin to really affect each other and conflict begins to arise. The things that the husband did to win his wife, the good manners, the flowers, the time spent focused on her may begin to be neglected. She may become wounded or feel alienated. And so the marriage environment begins to sour. Marriage is kind of like a beautiful sports car. A sports car is built for performance and is capable of high speeds and incredible agility. It looks good when it's new and it gives a measure of joy and satisfaction to the driver. But every car has its weaknesses. And as it's driven, things begin to go wrong. It could be something simple like it ran out of gas or it could be more serious like the engine overheating. Like a fancy car, marriage requires care if it is to run well. There is the preventative maintenance to avoid breakdowns and there are the times when things break and the vehicle must be worked on and fixed in order to drive well. As the marriage develops, and children enter the scene, the sports car may look more like a minivan or an SUV. For some, it may even become like a semi-truck because of the heavy load and the responsibilities required. But fundamentally, each of these vehicles requires maintenance and repairs from time to time. So that's what we're gonna talk about a little bit today. We begin to look at some of the problems that arise in marriage there is a great enemy that is the source of many of these problems. When you were single, maybe it wasn't as apparent to you, but when you made your vows and began to live with your spouse, you began to realize that things aren't always as you like them. There is another person to consider, and they like the thermostat at 69 degrees, and you like it at 75. As these differences begin to pile up and conflicts begin to arise, it may eventually occur to you that you are more selfish than you realized, and it's more difficult to navigate because you want things your way. When you have your first baby, there's a whole new set of challenges. there's a whole new set of challenges to the way that you imagine things would be. And if you don't come to grips with your own selfishness, things will become difficult indeed. On a spiritual note, One of the great benefits of marriage is a greater opportunity for sanctification. I know you guys have heard that before. As couples live together, their rough edges begin to create friction and this will inevitably bring into focus some of their sins and their areas of weakness. Selfishness indeed lies at the root of much disharmony in marriage. One author of a previous generation wrote, Youth ends when egotism ends. Maturity begins when one lives for others. There's a lot of truth in this statement. Egotism, according to the Cambridge Dictionary, is thinking only about yourself and considering yourself better and more important than other people. We could substitute