Discipleship track · 4 modules · One flesh

Marriage: Iron and Grace

Brothers & sisters4 modules

0 of 4 modules complete

01

Module 1

Covenant, not contract

“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”

Genesis 2:24

Read: Genesis 2:18–25 · Malachi 2:13–16 · Matthew 19:3–9

A contract says: I will hold up my end as long as you hold up yours. A covenant says: I will hold up my end. Period. Marriage is a covenant made before God, and He is the witness. He does not take it lightly, and neither should we.

Leave, cleave, one flesh. Leave means your spouse comes before parents, friends, and career. Cleave means you hold on when it is hard. One flesh means what happens to them happens to you. Fight for your marriage like you are fighting for your own body.

Wrestle with it

  • Are you treating your marriage like a contract or a covenant?
  • What have you not fully left in order to cleave?

The charge

Tell your spouse today, in words, that you are not going anywhere.

02

Module 2

Love like Christ

“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.”

Ephesians 5:25

Read: Ephesians 5:22–33 · 1 Corinthians 13:4–8

Christ loved the church by dying for her. That is the measure for a husband: not how much you provide, but how much you lay down. Your comfort, your pride, your right to be right. A wife who is loved like that finds it easy to respect a husband like that.

First Corinthians 13 is not a wedding poem. It is a battle plan. Long-suffering, kind, not easily provoked, thinketh no evil. Read it with your spouse’s name in the blanks and see where you fall short.

Wrestle with it

  • What have you refused to lay down for your spouse?
  • Which line of 1 Corinthians 13 convicts you most right now?

The charge

Do one thing today for your spouse that costs you something and expects nothing back.

03

Module 3

Fight the right enemy

“Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: neither give place to the devil.”

Ephesians 4:26–27

Read: Ephesians 4:25–32 · James 1:19–20 · 1 Peter 3:7–9

Your spouse is not the enemy. When you go to war with each other, the real enemy wins without firing a shot. Paul says anger that sleeps in the house overnight gives place to the devil. He gets a foothold, and he builds from there.

Be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. Confess quickly. Forgive quickly. Pray together, especially when you do not feel like it. A couple that prays together is a couple that is aiming their weapons at the right target.

Wrestle with it

  • Is there wrath in your home that has been there longer than a day?
  • When was the last time you prayed out loud with your spouse?

The charge

Before you sleep tonight, make peace and pray together. No exceptions.

04

Module 4

Mission together

“Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.”

Ecclesiastes 4:9

Read: Ecclesiastes 4:9–12 · Acts 18:1–3 · Acts 18:24–26

Priscilla and Aquila worked together, opened their home together, and discipled a preacher together. A marriage is not just two people making each other happy. It is two people sent on the same mission.

What is your mission as a couple? Who are you reaching, serving, raising, hosting? A threefold cord is not quickly broken: you, your spouse, and the Lord, pulling in one direction.

Wrestle with it

  • If someone asked what your marriage is for, what would you say?
  • What could the two of you do for the Kingdom that neither could do alone?

The charge

Sit down with your spouse this week and write one sentence describing your mission together.

Other tracks: The Whole Armour of God · Biblical Manhood · Biblical Womanhood · Leading Your Home · Raising Warriors · Spiritual Warfare