Principle 1: Look To The Bible As Your Guidebook And To Christ As Your Living Example. - The Uncommon Marriage Adventure

UNCOMMON WISDOM

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. —Ephesians 5:21

UNCOMMON PRACTICE

Take a few moments to select one of this week’s practices to explore further. Or you may each want to choose one principle directed specifically to you as the husband or you as the wife.

The related Adventure Application appears just below each practice. If you’d prefer to come up with a different way of living out that practice this week, feel free to discuss what that might look like.

Make Christ the center of your marriage.

Take a moment to each draw a triangle. Be sure the sides reflect the distance you currently feel between each other and Christ. (The longer the sides, the further apart you feel.) Now compare your triangles. Discuss why you drew them the way you did, and how focusing on Christ could shorten the sides and bring you closer together.

Treat your parents and others in authority with respect.

Is there an issue you need to discuss with your spouse about either set of your parents? Talk about how Exodus 20:12 and Genesis 2:24 speak into that issue.

Husbands: Work hard to hear your wife’s heart and meet her needs.

Read John 3:16 aloud, inserting your wife’s name where appropriate. How does that help you better appreciate God’s love for her? How does it impact your attitude toward her?

Husbands: Be prepared to love sacrificially.

How do you define sacrifice? In what ways do you sacrifice and “take the middle seat” so your spouse can feel loved?

Wives: Show love and respect to your husband.

Offer a sincere compliment about your spouse this week in front of your children, your parents or siblings, or your friends at church, at work, or in the neighborhood. If possible, do it when he is there too!

Wives: Strike the right balance between acceptance and expressing your disappointment when following your husband’s lead in an area where you disagree.

Submission can be a loaded term in our culture. Take a few minutes today to discuss what this word means to you. Do you each feel that the other hears your heart and respects your feelings? If not, godly submission will be tough to practice. How might you begin to practice submission and meeting your spouse where he or she is?

UNCOMMON PRAYER

Take a few minutes to discuss any praises and needs you’d like to bring to God as a couple. Then, in addition to praying about those things, use one or more of the following prayer prompts to ask God to help you rely on Scripture and on Christ to build a stronger marriage.

Praise God that He hasn’t left you alone to figure out how to love each other, but that His Word offers an abundance of wisdom to learn from, promises to claim, and examples to follow.

Throughout the week, ask the Holy Spirit to remind you of passages from His Word that can breathe new hope and joy into your marriage.

Confess your need for Christ to help you show honor, respect, and grace to your in-laws, your spouse, and even yourself when you face dashed expectations or unanticipated frustrations.

Invite Jesus to be at the center of your marriage this week, filling your hearts with love for Him and each other and infusing your relationship with uncommon affection, peace, and self-sacrifice.