Deferred Maintenance

How do you experience a strong, vibrant marriage that lasts a lifetime?

A strong, vibrant marriage does not just HAPPEN; it is BUILT.

National Institute for Standards & Technology Key Findings:

WEEK 1: It’s Foundational

The foundation, in large part, determines the overall success, stability, and sustainability of a structure.

One of the best ways to STRENGTHEN your marriage is to DEEPEN your relationship with Jesus.

WEEK 2: Quality of Materials

The quality of the materials directly impacts the beauty and longevity of what you are building.

Building a strong, vibrant marriage is less about FALLING in love and more about GROWING in love.

WEEK 3: Stress to the Structure

If a structure bears stress greater than it was designed to handle, reinforcement is necessary to preserve structural integrity.

Every new SEASON of life almost always requires a new RHYTHM for life.

DEFERRED MAINTENANCE

• Neglecting small REPAIRS today guarantees significant PROBLEMS tomorrow.

One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys.

Proverbs 18:9

Slack – putting things off; neglect, carelessness, or slowness in performing one’s duty — letting things fall into decline.

Destroy – the termination of something by causing so much damage to it that it cannot be repaired or no longer exists.

• No one ever DRIFTS into a BETTER marriage.
• Hoping things get BETTER is not a STRATEGY.

3 Types of Maintenance Strategies:

1. REACTIVE Maintenance: “run-to-failure” “breakdown maintenance” involves addressing issues only after a breakdown occurs.

Your marriage can only be as HEALTHY as you are.

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

1 Corinthians 13:11

2. PREDICTIVE Maintenance: focuses on identifying potential issues before they become critical.

You don’t know what you don’t know, so PRIORITIZE time with those who know.

Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.

Proverbs 13:20

3. PREVENTATIVE Maintenance: regularly scheduled upkeep to strengthen the marriage and help avoid unexpected breakdowns.

You have to do INTENTIONALLY what once came NATURALLY.

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.

Revelation 2:4-5