Marriage Oneness – The Oneness Factor

My wife and I recently joined a small group at our church called Marriage Oneness.  It is a study taught by Tim and Lea Lundy and it has been a great refresher course on the basics of a solid godly marriage.  Over the next couple weeks I want to share some of those basics with you so we, as a church, can start bucking the dreaded 50% divorce rate.Before we get started I wanted to look at what the bible says about marriage oneness, so let’s look at Genesis 2:24;

That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. (NIV)

 Becoming one flesh, that’s hard!  But once a marriage spiritually becomes one flesh it can withstand anything.  Which is why the divorce rate among Protestants, Catholics, & Jews active in their faith and church have a much lower divorce rate (Focus on the Family).How do we start down the road of Marriage Oneness?  First let’s look at scripture and then Tim and Lea Lundy break it down into three components based on this scripture;

1 Peter 3:8-9 - Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. (NIV)

 Soul-level harmony of MIND: “Common Direction”Do you know where you and your spouse are going as a couple?Are you both excited about getting there?Are we dreaming together?“be like-minded” Soul-level harmony of HEART: “Emotional Connection”Can we communicate deeply and openly?Do we feel connected?be sympathetic, love one another Soul-level harmony of WILL: “Mutual Commitment”Are we committed to each other and to our marriage?Are we willing to pursue new ways to better our marriage?Do not repay evil with evil…. repay evil with blessing I urge you to carve out time this week to sit down with your spouse and go through these questions together.  You have to be intentional if you want your marriage to grow.  And no matter if you have been married 60 years or 60 minutes I guarantee you will find out something new about your spouse.  Whether that is through today’s blog post or the ones in weeks to follow!