TEXT: "You shall not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:14).

"Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath" (Ephesians 4:26).

IDEA: A second rule for handling conflict is to fight to the finish.

PURPOSE: To help listeners face and deal with conflict in their marriages (and other relationships).

Do you know the Marquis of Queensbury rules in boxing?

What are they designed to do?

The apostle Paul gives us some principles for fighting fairly in a relationship.

The first principle was, don’t be afraid to fight.

Fight to the finish.

Get the matter settled. Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath, Ephesians 4:26.

I. We must not retreat after we begin to deal with a matter.

Men have a way of hiding behind a newspaper or storming out of the house; women may do it with tears.

II. Most conflicts can be settled when a couple is willing to talk it through.

The apostle Paul says, “Don’t let the sun go down on your anger.”

This is a proverb. Nighttime may be a poor time to settle what bothers you. The apostle Paul isn’t saying, “Don’t go to bed with it unsettled,” but merely get it settled soon.

Phyllis Diller and her husband determined they would never go to sleep with differences between them. So sometimes they stayed up for four days and four nights.