MARRIAGE
MARRIAGE
Leader Thoughts
During this week in our home groups we are going to look at marriage. We can see some very strange marriage situations in the book of Esther. This is a great time for us to examine our own marriages and make sure we are both honoring our spouse and the Lord with these relationships. For many of you, you are not professional councilors nor do you need to be. Our focus is to love other another, point them to Jesus and help them seek wise council if that is needed in their relationship. If you find a situation arise in your home group that seems very serious please let myself or Todd know as we would love to serve as needed. Blow is a practical blog article on five phrases we should remove from our marriage.
We want to be compassionate towards our people who are not married. Please be wise in your conversations that they are inclusive.
________________________________________________________________It seems like marriage is just another word for “endlessly learning to communicate”. Yes, there is so much more to marriage than communication, but how many marital issues would be erased or solved if we just learned to communicate in a more healthy manner? Our 10+ years have taught us that it’s not a matter of if we disagree, but when we do, how will we handle it?
In a sentence, here’s the key to healthy communication through virtually anything: both should never quit and always communicate until you reach the other side. This, of course, takes grit and dedication... and a few bits of sound wisdom on how to resolve things more healthily wouldn’t hurt either. Thus, this post.
It’s impossible to define everything everyone should or shouldn’t say in every situation. However, there are some phrases that are usually unhelpful for marriage:
5 hurtful phrases to remove from your marriage vocabulary
1: “I’m busy...”
A very new friend of mine, Tyler Ward, wrote an incredibly insightful article called, “Busy isn’t respectable anymore.” One read through and you’ll want to remove “I’m busy...” from your vocabulary for good.
But why does that matter for your marriage? As Tyler illustrates, saying “I’m busy” is often just a force of habit and usually an indication of some deeper disfunction (no, not always, but often). There’s a saying: “If you’re too busy for your spouse, you’re too busy”. That being the case, we should always make time for our spouses without relegating ourselves to simply being “busy”.
If you are actually busy, that’s fine, just articulate exactly what’s going on so your spouse may understand and support you with your tasks!
2: “You always...”
Absolute statements like “you always...” or “you never...” are something Selena and I have worked very hard to remove from our marriage. We’ve yet to fully succeed! The problem with absolute statements is that they’re never true when speaking of behavior, and they are always hurtful (there are two absolute statements you can be sure of!). Absolute statements say more about who’s saying them then they do about whom they’re directed at.
If I may be blunt, absolute statements are just plain lazy.
Example: Instead of “You never want want sex...”, consider a statement like “lately, I’ve felt like we’re not connecting intimately enough. Can we talk about what’s going on?”
By being specific and purposeful with your language, you can actually move forward together instead of accusing one another. Removing absolute statements from your marriage diction will do wonders.
3: “Whatever.”
How many times have we ended an argument with a single dismissive “whatever”?
“Whatever” is the arch enemy of biblical reconciliation. By dismissing disagreements with “whatever”, you’re essentially stating that you don’t care enough about the person or disagreement to discuss further. Love never quits. Love is patient, kind, not easily angered, and always perseveres (1 Corinthians 13).
It’s not that whatever is a bad word, it’s just usually used in times when love isn’t at it’s best. Removing whatever from your marriage vocabulary will force to to either 1) explain why you’re OK with dismissing the conversation, or 2) explain why you’re truly ok with whatever.
4: The word Divorce
It’s tragic when we hear couples use the word “divorce”, either jokingly or seriously, in reference to their own marriage. Marriage only works if divorce is not an option If there’s no back door, you’ll both be committed to working through anything.
The greatest enemy we’ve seen at play in marriage is simply giving up; someone decides to step out the back door. They mentally, emotionally, and spiritually check-out of the marriage. How can you work something out if one person leaves or refuses to engage? Divorce is just that: giving up on the marriage.
Using the word “divorce” potentially cracks the door on a terrible possibility into your marriage. Would it be funny or appropriate ever if you said “I sincerely hope you die a horrible painful death”? Nope. It’s hurtful no matter how you slice it.
I implore you, remove “divorce” from your vocabulary. Don’t use it as a threat, comedic relief, or otherwise.
5: “I wish you were more like...” and “you’re just like your [parent]”
Ok, yes this is two phrases. I wanted to combine them here because I believe they come from the same place: comparison.
Comparison is truly heartbreaking. Nobody likes being compared to someone else, whether it’s a friend, a stranger, a family member, or a celebrity. People aren’t things, like cars with features to be compared. “This one has GPS”, “that one gets 40 MPG”, etc.
Nothing makes me feel smaller than when I’m unscrupulously compared to someone greater than me. Feeling that kind of small is ok, I guess, but only if it’s relation to Jesus. May Jesus be the only person we compare ourselves and our spouses to.
Here are some tough comparisons married folks tend to make; some explicitly and some internally:
I wish [my wife] looked more like [other woman] (this is NEVER productive)
You’re just like your father/mother.
Usually used to illustrate an undesirable behavior, thus pigeonholing the person compared.
Why can’t we be more like [some other couple]? (this type of comparison is especially frustrating)
I hope I’ve made a compelling case for why you should remove some phrases from your marriage.
Be selective with your words. There are two things in this life you can never get back once used, words and time. Use your words to give life.
- Ryan Frederick
HOME GROUP GUIDE
OPENING
Ask if a few of your couples will share the story of how they meet and their dating to marriage story.
SCRIPTURE
Read Ephesians 5: 21- 33
1. What does it mean that we all should submit to one another out of the reverence of Christ? How does this glorify God?
2. Does the word submission seem offensive or wrong? Why is this? Should it be?
3. Practically speaking how can we love our wife as Christ loves the Church?
4. We all understand that marriage is difficult and we may fail to show love or respect to our spouse in some situations. What are ways to restore that relationship when it’s hurt in that way?
APPLICATION
1. What are ways as a small group we can help each other have healthier and stronger marriages?
2. What are areas of growth that you would love to see in your own marriage over the next year? (Give your couples a little time to discuss them together before speaking to the group)
PRAYER
Have your couples pair up if you are able and spend time praying for each others marriage.
Children Conversation
When do you believe is an appropriate time to begin to talk with your children about sexual purity and dating?
How can we talk about relationships with our children in a way that is meaningful without being awkward or hard for them and us?