Introduction
A. How do you storm proof your marriage?
1. Build your house with God’s wisdom.
2. Construct your house upon 7 pillars.
3. Pillars speak of strength, support, and enlargement.

B. Are you wise or are you foolish?
1. Prov. 14:1“The wise woman builds her house, But the foolish pulls it down with her hands.”

I. What Are the Seven Pillars of a Healthy Marriage?
A. Pillar 1: The wise choice
1. Prov. 19:14“Houses and riches are an inheritance from fathers,
But a prudent wife is from the Lord.”
2. Are you equally yoked?
3. Do you read from the same manual?
4. Is Jesus Lord of your life?
5. Question: What do we do if we believe we married the wrong person? You work hard to become the right person.
6. Women: Do not marry an angry man, a lazy man, or an addicted man (Prov. 22:24, 30-34, 25:28).
7. Men: Do not marry an angry woman, a foolish woman, or a sensual woman (Prov. 9:13, 21:19, 2:16-19).

B. Pillar 2: Loving faithfulness
1. Prov. 3:3 “Let love and faithfulness never leave you” (NIV).
2. Prov. 5:15-18“Drink water from your own cistern, And running water from your own well. 16 Should your fountains be dispersed abroad,
Streams of water in the streets? 17 Let them be only your own, And not for strangers with you. 18 Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice with the wife of your youth.”
· v. 15 “Drink water from your own well.”
· v. 18 “Rejoice with the wife of your youth.”
3. Sexual immorality will destroy your health, wealth, and reputation.
4. Prov. 5:8-11“Stay away from her! Don’t go near the door of her house!
9 If you do, you will lose your honor and will lose to merciless people all you have achieved. 10 Strangers will consume your wealth, and someone else will enjoy the fruit of your labor. 11 In the end you will groan in anguish when disease consumes your body” (NLT).
5. Romance comes from exclusivity not immorality.

C. Pillar 3: Cultivation
1. Gardening Principle: All relationships need cultivation.
2. Prov. 24:30-31“I went by the field of the lazy man, And by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding; 31 And there it was, all overgrown with thorns; Its surface was covered with nettles; Its stone wall was broken down.”
3. “overgrown with thorns” = If you do not cultivate your marriage, you will experience pain.
4. “wall was broken down” = If you do not cultivate your marriage, the devil will break into your home.
5. Prov. 13:4“A sluggard’s appetite is never filled, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied” (NIV).
6. If you cultivate your marriage, your desires will be fulfilled.

D. Pillar 4: Life giving words
1. Your marriage will be as healthy as the words you speak to each other.
2. Prov. 15:4“A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, But perverseness in it breaks the spirit.”
3. Prov. 18:6-7“A fool’s lips enter into contention, And his mouth calls for blows. 7 A fool’s mouth is his destruction, And his lips are the snare of his soul.”
4. Prov. 18:21“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.”
5. Kind words: I appreciate you, I trust you, I value you, I love you.
6. Never use your words as a weapon. Never insult your spouse, never crush their spirit.

E. Pillar 5: Healthy conflict
1. Prov. 18:19“A brother offended is harder to win than a strong city,
And contentions are like the bars of a castle.”
2. Wounds, hurts, and offenses will occur in every relationship.
3. Every unresolved conflict will hinder marital intimacy.
4. Healthy conflict requires honesty.
· Prov. 27:6 “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
5. Healthy conflict requires softness.
· Prov. 15:1“A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.”
6. Healthy conflict requires listening.
· Prov. 1:24-26“Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded, 25 Because you disdained all my counsel, And would have none of my rebuke,
26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes,”

F. Pillar 6: Forgiveness
1. Prov. 10:12“Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all sins.”
2. The only way to uproot a root of bitterness is through forgiveness.
3. Prov. 17:9“He who covers a transgression seeks love, But he who repeats a matter separates friends.”

G. Pillar 7: Interdependence
1. You are not independent of each other. You are not dependent upon each other. You are interdependent. You are heirs together of the grace of life. You are both strong in the grace of God. You give and receive. You both pour into each other.
2. Woman: Prov. 31:10-31
3. Man: Prov. 31:23 “her husband is known in the gates.”

Conclusion
What pillar do you need to construct?