Being Equally Yoked

Call this talk being equally yoked. We've been talking a little bit about spouses and marriage. And for you guys, we are days away from our 28th anniversary, and that's a pretty big milestone, especially for mom putting up with me all these years. And one of the things when you're choosing your spouse and you're dating a lot of people, they use. They let lust fall into there. I really love this person. Well, a lot of times that's just lust. It takes more than that to make it 28 years. Takes more than that to make it a couple years. I mean, most divorces, most marriages end a divorce. I think it's over 50% now. So, you know, half the time people are going in knowing they're going to lose because they're not doing it right the way they should, as ways I think they should. So being equally yoked would mean, you know, you want to have your spouse thinking, you know, it's along the same lines as you do. You know, people can have different opinions slightly, but you're not going to have a Catholic, marry a Buddhist monk. You probably have a long marriage, you know, just using as an example. So you want to. As tough as life is, your spouse is your best friend. And that's who they need to be your best friend. And they're your secret weapon against the world when you stand united. Mom and I have always had the same value system, the same beliefs. We've stood united against many, many fronts, helping you guys through school, just as we've grown in my career. Mom always supported me. She never said, you're working, you know, too much. When we made that decision for her to stay at home, and she's like, that's your job. Go get it. You know, so she supported me. And that's the way you have a great marriage and a long marriage is to have that spouse who believes the same way you do. So think about that as you guys look for your spouses and to get married and want to make it work. Because when you sleep with somebody and have a kid, whether you like them or not, you were with them the rest of your life. That kid keeps growing, you're paying child support or whatever, you're having to deal with them as the kids grow. Every milestone in that kid's life, if you want to be there, so is your ex spouse. So think about that. But being equally yoked, meaning you have the same values. So maybe you're both Christian, you're both conservative, you're both. I mean, people make it work, but it's hard. And like I said, having opposite values and goals and dreams in life can be so hard. And why stack the deck against you? So when you look for someone that you want to marry, make sure y', all, you line up like that. And that makes the world in life so much easier when you are united like that and then you fight battles together instead of trying to fight battles opposite each other. So selecting your husband or wife correctly initially is really a, is the key. You know, there might be a beautiful person, they might be in love with them or less with them, but there's a lot more to life than that going through life, especially once you start having kids, getting your careers. And it's just a never ending battle, daily battle. So make sure that you're as get along and have your values are lined up as best as possible. That's just one of the top ways to set yourself off with success in your marriage. To make sure you're not one of the 50 or whatever it is now like you're 55% that don't work out. It's just that one little thing that I see so many people that are complete opposites, they're like well, word love. I'm like, well love doesn't always work out like that because your value systems are so misaligned. You're going to butt heads and it's going to get worse and worse. So stack the deck in your favor. Find someone who, who agrees with you when you, when you're looking to get married and that it might be a little, that'll be the biggest help for long term success.