In Love for Life
Building or Rebuilding a Great Marriage
The Currency of Love
Stratégie d'enseignement
The focus of this lesson is on various communication methods and how they improve marriage. A special focus is on how to improve our communication and how an improved communication in marriage leads to an improved relationship with God.
Résultats de l'apprentissage des étudiants
- Know: Understand God’s plan for marriage.
- Feel: Commit to following God’s plan for marriage.
- Do: Apply the concepts for building a lasting and loving marriage relationship.
Corps de la leçon
Questions à discuter
Vous trouverez ci-dessous des suggestions de questions à utiliser pendant la partie de la leçon consacrée à la discussion guidée. Vous trouverez également des suggestions de réponses aux questions pour aider les élèves à saisir les différents concepts. Ces réponses sont fournies pour faciliter la discussion et ne sont pas considérées comme des réponses "justes ou fausses".
Desired response: A love where each partner has a disciplined commitment to seek the wellbeing equal to or greater than themselves. This is the nature of the love God has for us and asks of us as His faithful followers.
Currency is defined as a medium of exchange (www.dictionary.com). We generally apply this to money by which we obtain goods and services to satisfy our wants and needs. In a similar way, we communicate our wants and needs with people in our various relationships, especially, however, in our marriage relationship.
Currency is only valuable if it is exchanged. The same is true of communication as a currency in marriage. We must exchange it and the more we exchange, the better its application.
(Note: The underlined words are the one to provide to complete the statement.)
We express our love through communication. This is done verbally, non-verbally, and through our actions. If we do not communicate regularly and effectively then love will not grow and will instead decrease over time.
There will be various responses to this. A suggested response is: "As unpleasant as arguing and rebuke are, these are better than no communication at all. No communication is like no love."
The text provides five ways: words, gifts, actions/service, time, and physical affection. Encourage participants to share specific examples of each and how these make them feel.
Be totally honest (Ephesians 4:15). Honesty, as applied to communication, means to be open with our spouse about our needs and wants, and how things affect us. We must recognize each other's different needs and openly communicate about them with each other. Note: Refer to the Hierarchy of Needs chart in the text.)
We cannot assume our spouse will understand fully our communication if we are ambiguous with our words or other expressions. What we say and do must be clear and consistent. This is obtained through providing feedback to each other about what was communicated.
Communication must be complete. We must tell the truth, express it clearly, and tell it all. Note: We are communicating to express our love, not to criticize or tear down.
Communication is one of the strongest tools we have in building our relationship with our spouse. More importantly, it is necessary that we communicate regularly and honestly with God. As part of our communication with God, we should often bring our spouse and marriage before Him in prayer as well. When we do this, we grow spiritually and help each other grow spiritually.
Remember, marriage is a gift from God. If you have not done so, or even if you have done so, take a few minutes and pray for your spouse and to thank God for the gift of marriage.
Teacher Note: Consider ending this class with a special prayer for the marriages of students in your class.