Marriage worksheet 3

God’s design restored

One of the most heart-warming scenes ever filmed by news cameras shows hundreds of prisoners streaming from German concentration camps at the end of World War II. Few people have ever savored their freedom as much as those people did. They knew what had happened to thousands of their fellow prisoners at the hands of the Nazis.

Group discussion
Encourage each person to complete the sentence “True freedom is …”

Try to reach a consensus on a definition of freedom.

Personal reflection
Thank God for the freedom the Holy Spirit brings to everyone who has repented and trusted the Lord Jesus. Ask God to teach you how to appropriate the Holy Spirit’s power to overcome sin and live to please God.

Part of the good news of Jesus Christ is that we can be set free from something far worse than a concentration camp - our old sinful ways of living. We are liberated to live under the control and direction of the Holy Spirit. We are free to enjoy the beautiful oneness of God’s original design for us.

---

We now read Galatians 5:13-26 (NIV) which says ¹³You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve

humbly in love. ¹⁴For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be

Reveal Answer

by each other. ¹⁶So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. ¹⁸But if you are led by the

Reveal Answer

, you are not under the

Reveal Answer

. ¹⁹The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified

Reveal Answer

with its passions and desires. ²⁵Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Q1 What attitudes and actions are contrasted in this passage?

Q2 What two possible uses of freedom can a Christian make?

Q3 In what ways do you face the temptation in marriage to be self-centered rather than serving your spouse in love?

Q4 In addition to being selfish, Paul also cites the danger of verbal abuse (v 15). How much a husband and wife destroy each other by verbal biting and devouring?

Q5 A husband or wife may work long hours in order to serve the family’s physical and material needs. But the other spouse may view this service as negecting time together. How can a husband and wife help each other understand what communicates loving service to them?

Q6 God promises that we can avoid being controlled by our sinful nature if we make the right choices. What do the choices in verse 16, 18 and 25 look like in daily life?

Q7 How are these acts of our sinful nature destructive to us personally and to our marriages (vv 19-21, 22-23)?

Q8 What choices can we make to avoid falling into these sins or to get free from any that control us?

Q9 In contrast to the acts of our sinful nature, how does the fruit of the Spirit express the characteristics of God (vv 22-23)?

Q10 How have you seen the fruit of the Spirit demonstrated in the lives of husbands and wives you know?

Q11 Paul instructes us positively, to keep in step with the Spirit (v 25) and negatively, to not become conceited, provoking and envying each other (v 26). What family tensions would be relieved by obeying each of those commands?

Q12 God’s beautiful design for marriage can be ours today in spite of the damage sin has done. What encouragement and instructions do you find in this passage to help you serve one another in love by the power of the Holy Spirit?

Write down your prayer a fresh, positive, optimistic outlook toward Christian marriage.