Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

Series: Cherish

Text: & Song of Solomon

Introduction:

Illustration: In 2015, a 17-year-old girl named Khanittha “Mint” Phasaeng was crowned a Thai beauty queen.

Shortly after winning, she began to received lucrative film, advertising, and television contracts.

Upon her return home, she was photographed showing honor to her trash-collecting mother by kneeling at her feet.

SHOW PICTURE

Mint’s mother literally collected and sold trash for a living.

Still dressed in the tiara and the colorful sash that marked her a celebrity in Thailand, she knelt down by the trash and honored her mother.

She referred to her mother’s job as an “honorable profession” that kept food on the table and praised her for her commitment and care.

This is a picture of what happens when we truly cherish a loved one.

Mint didn’t just send her mom a thank-you card or give her a half-hearted hug.

She got down where people throw trash, got her dress dirty, and bowed down to a woman in the dress of a commoner.

This was a sign of respect, adoration, gratitude, and honor.

She went out of her way to notice her mom, appreciate her mom, honor her mom, and in such a picturesque way, hold her mother dear.

You see, the way you treat your spouse acknowledges whether you cherish him or her or whether you have indifference or contempt toward him or her.

To truly cherish something is to go out of your way to protect it, show it off, and honor it.

We are wanting others to see and recognize the value of that which you see.

Sticky Statement: A cherishing attitude toward your spouse will elevate your marriage relationally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically.

Cherishing your spouse will cause you to look at your marriage from entirely different angles.

Transition: How many of you stood at the altar and made vows to each other on your wedding day?

I hope 100% of you.

One of the most common vows, which I would assume many of your repeated in some form, goes like this:

Illustration: I, Jason, take thee, Tania, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.

I would assume that most of us get the love part.

Give me some ideas of what it means to love in one word or a short phrase:

· Commitment

· Putting the other person first

· Service

· Sacrifice

But what does it mean to cherish your spouse?

Is it a word that we simply tack on to love or something we say once at the wedding and rarely mention again?

The answer, no!

The desire of this series of lessons is to help us understand what it is to cherish our spouse and the difference it will make in our marriages.

Again:

Sticky Statement: A cherishing attitude toward your spouse will elevate your marriage relationally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically.

Learning to cherish each other will turn your marriage from an obligation to a delight.

It moves from beyond a commitment to a precious priority.

Gary Thomas said, “Cherish is the melody that makes a marriage sing.”

What Does Cherish Mean?

Dictionary.com defines Cherish as:

1) to hold or treat as dear; feel love for; 2) to care for tenderly; nurture; and 3) to cling fondly or inveterately to.

to hold or treat as dear, 2)

Inveterately - Having a particular habit, activity, or interest that is long-established and unlikely to change; (of a feeling or habit) long-established and unlikely to change.

The whole idea of cherishing your spouse is not just something that was thrown in traditional vows, but is a Scriptural teaching.

The English words cherish, cherished, and cherisheth are found in the KJV 4 times; 2 times in the OT and 2 times in the NT.

New Testament

; ,

The Greek word for cherish, also found just two times int he NT means:

1) to warm, keep warm, 2) to cherish with tender love, to foster with tender care

Old Testament

The Hebrew word for cherish occurs 12 times in the OT and can be defined as:

1) to be of use or service, or profit or benefit, 2) To be used, show harmony with, be familiar with, to know intimately.

Maybe you’re ask the question, “Isn’t making love with my spouse showing her that I cherish her?”

The answer: No!

Implication from - Having sex with one another does not mean that you cherish one another.

However, mutually enjoyable sex would be a result of cherishing one another.

In the context of relationships/marriage, what does cherish mean?

To cherish someone means:

You naturally want to protect them - could be physical, emotional, spiritual, or even reputation and health.

You’ll treat them with tenderness

You’ll look for ways to nurture and occasionally indulge them

You will hold them dear

You’ll want to showcase them

Over the next several weeks, we’ll specifically examine each of these ways in which you can cherish your spouse.

But let’s summarize it like this for today with a quote from Gary Thomas:

“Love is the nurturing aspect of marriage, while cherish is the ‘tasting’ aspect of marriage.

Love meets the needs; cherish tickles the tongue.”

Transition: We’ve defined “cherish” by looking at its use in Scripture and definition from the dictionary.

We’ve also briefly seen what it looks like to cherish someone.

Over the next few minutes, let’s look at the pictures the Scripture paints to show us what it looks like to love and to cherish your spouse.

To Love and To Cherish

What is the difference to between loving and cherishing?

We’ll let’s compare the famous biblical chapter on love () with a book of the Bible devoted to cherishing.

(From the article “What Cherishing Your Spouse Really Means”, by Focus on the Family.)

Love is gracious and unselfish.

- Charity suffereth long, and is kind;

Charity suffereth long, and is kind

The Holy Bible: King James Version.

(2009).

(Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., ).

Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.Patient and kind.

Cherish is about being enthusiastic and enthralled.

Song of Solomon 4:10

Love tends to be quiet and understated.

Cherish boasts boldly and loudly.

Song of Solomon

Love thinks about other with selflessness

1 Corinthians

Love isn’t arrogant or rude.

It doesn’t insist on its own way.

Cherish thinks about its beloved with praise.

Song of Solomon 2:14

Love doesn’t want the worst for someone.

Cherish celebrates the best in someone.

Song of Solomon

Love puts up with a lot.

Cherish enjoys a lot.

Love is about commitment.

Cherish is about delight and passion

Song of Solomon