Day 4
Believe it or not, the conflict of marriage is
synonymous with the beauty of marriage. I know
what you’re thinking, ‘Here we go again… today’s
thoughts are going be about conflict resolution and
issues again,’ but I promise, it is not! Marriage is
distinct because scripture lets us know that this
union is greater than our union with our children and
even greater than our union with our parents. The
union of marriage is only second to our relationship
with Christ and this means that this is delicate,
special and precious and that we should invest a lot
of time in uncovering God’s will in this relationship.
What makes marriage difficult is what makes it
unique and beautiful. Please, think and elaborate
about this with someone.
Today, make it your goal to make progress in
loving your spouse, as Christ loves us. Do one thing
that you think you wouldn’t have done if you were not
trying to imitate Jesus in His love for us.
PROGRESS is your goal today!
Oneness in marriage does not mean losing
your personality in the personality of the other.
Instead, it means caring for your spouse as you care
for yourself, learning to anticipate the other person’s
needs, helping the other person become all he or
she can be. As a family, discuss how we can help
each other become all we can be, through Christ
Jesus.
Day 5 Volume 2 Number 15
Husband, love your wife. Wife, respect your
husband. A man’s greatest need is respect. A
ENGAGED
woman’s greatest need is love. Men never naturally April 10 - 16
love women the way women want to be loved. Men
love women the way men want to be loved. Women
never naturally respect men the way men want to be
respected. Women love men the way women want to
be loved. Men underestimate how much women
need love. Women underestimate how much men
need respect. What happens when love and
respect aren’t present? Without love wives react
without respect. Without respect husbands react
without love. What can you do in your marriage to
prevent the ‘crazy love cycle’?
Ephesians 5:32-33
“This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning
Christ and the church. Nevertheless let each
Today, consider the picture your marriage is one of you in particular so love his own wife as
giving the world of Christ’s love for His people, and himself, and let the wife see that she respects
for the world. Does your marriage accurately portray her husband.”
that love? Is your love sacrificial? Is it
unconditional? Is it seeking the good of your
beloved? Is it steady, patient and without suspicion?
Ask God today to help you love in these ways, as He
has shown His love to you.
through
The creation story tells of God’s plan that
husband and wife should be ONE (Gen. 2:24), and
Jesus also referred to this plan in (Matthew 19:4-6).
Again, take time as a family and go back and read
Ephesians 5:1-33, Genesis 2, and Matthew 19.
Day 1
Fella’s, the question you should ask is
not, "Do I treat my wife well and get along with
her at least better than most?" No, the question is
this: "Did I behave toward my wife as Christ
behaves towards the church?" Ladies, the
question you ask yourself is not: "Am I nice and
helpful to my husband? Do I measure up as a
pretty good wife compared to other wives?" No,
this is the question: "Do I live with my husband as
the church is called to live with Christ?" If you
are not currently married, these are the primary
questions that are to be asked daily of yourself.
By the way, it is one thing to ask yourself these
questions; but, how would your spouse answer
them for you?
Today, read again in Philippians 2:1-8
how Jesus approached relationships. Then
compare it to how you approach your relationship
with your spouse. Is your attitude like Jesus in
this respect? Are you letting His mind become
yours? If you are not married, are you letting
Christ’s attitude shape the way you interact with
other people in your realm of influence?
Just as the husband and the wife are to
be joined together as one (Gen. 2:24), so Christ
and the church are united as one. For this
reason a man will leave his father and mother
and be united to his wife, and they will become
one flesh. Genesis 2:24
Day 2
This passage does not only lay out for us the
ideal of marriage, it is also very important for us, even
after we are married. We can only live pleasing to
God in marriage, if, in each day we set this before us,
before our mind's eye, before our faith, that we must
live as an example of Christ and the church. Our
marriages, then, must be an example of godliness for
our children and young people to follow after us. So,
even if you have been married for twenty or thirty
years, with most of your married life now behind you,
it is still as important today as the first day of your
married life, that you strive to reflect this divine
pattern. Who are you reflecting your marriage upon?
Please, make sure you are producing a proper image
for the next generation of marriages. In fact, pull
another younger married couple alongside of yours
and invest in them. Identify a couple you could build
into. Then pursue it!!!!
Compare what Ephesians 5 says about
husband/wife roles with what a modern day talk show
may say about them. Do you have a hard time being
“biblical” rather than “cultural” in your approach to
your marital relationship? Do you think the voice of
God has been dulled by the attitude of the world
toward gender relationships, and husband/wife roles?
As Christ demonstrates his love for the
church and believers respond by showing their love
for him, it is similar to the deepening intimacy that
exists between a husband and wife. As a family,
discuss how we can show our love for Christ.
Day 3
Your marriage can only be pleasing to
God if it is based on an understanding in your
heart of the doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ and
His church. If you are not clear about the
relationship of Christ and the church, of Christ's
union to the church and the churches to Christ,
then you simply cannot understand marriage.
That means that the proper study of a husband
and of a wife is not, first of all, all kinds of books
on solutions to marital problems. The proper
study of a wife is not, first of all, her husband; or
of the husband, his wife. But the proper study of
those who are married and those who are
intending to marry, is Christ and the church. You
will learn to live with your spouse, not if you have
graduated from a course on social human
relationships and hold a master's degree in these
things, but if you, as a Believer, know Christ and
His church.
How much does your love for your
spouse (or for other people, if you are single)
look like Christ’s love for the church? Look at
Ephesians 5:25. Is Christ’s love for the church
our model, or is it an unattainable goal? Does
the difficulty of the task remove our responsibility
to pursue it?
The union of husband and wife merges
two persons in such a way that little can affect
one without also affecting the other.