REALLIFE STUDY GROUP
“The Truth About Love and Marriage!”
ICEBREAKER: What is your
favorite gift to receive for Valentine’s Day?
Be specific. For example: don’t just say candy….what kind of candy and
how many pounds of candy?
INTRODUCTION: Sometimes
it’s hard to express our love for each other.
Clearly we live in a world that is broken and wounded because we see
people operating in far more fear than we see them living in the perfect place
of love. We say we love our new clothes,
our favorite ice cream cone, our family and our God. And yet there are many different kinds of
love. Love is more than a gift; it is a
fruit of the Spirit. In other words,
it’s what happens to us when we hang out with God’s Spirit. We begin to love like God does.
One
author defines the attributes of love this way:
The
growth of the Spirit is love!
Joy
is the expression of love.
Peace
is the realization of love.
Long
suffering is the endurance of love.
Gentleness
is the administration of love.
Goodness
is the character of love.
Faith
is the response of love and being loved.
Meekness
is the disposition of love.
Temperance
is the control of love.
It’s
time for God’s people to truly show our world the love of Christ! We need to
drop the judgmental, legalistic, religious masks and let the love of God shine
in the darkness. The world is wiring for
us to love them!
CONFESSION: My God does
not just have love. He is love,
therefore He can never run out of love because He would cease to exist if He
stopped loving. The more time I spend
with God, the greater His love flows through me. When I become more like God I will love
sacrificially, not selfishly! I will love extravagantly, not exotically! I will
love obediently, not obstinately! I will
love purposefully! I will love
passionately!
DEFINITION: Love: (Greek words) Eros: sexual, physical or erotic
love; Phileo: brotherly,
friendship love; Agape: the
God kind of love, a sacrificial love that seeks the highest and the best for
the object of that love. Storage:
a maternal, comforting, nurturing kind of love.
OUTLINE:
Symptoms that you’re letting your love
sour:
1. You stop
serving and preferring and start ignoring each other’s needs
2. You stop
praying for them and start telling God on them
3. You stop
listening to them and start shouting over them
4. You stop
trying and start looking for affirmation from something or someone else
5. You stop
encouraging and start criticizing, critiquing and comparing
6. You stop
forgiving and start rehearsing faults, flaws and failures
7. You stop investing
and start withdrawing emotionally
8. You stop
believing the best and start believing the worst
9. You stop
seeing through the eyes of love and compassion and start viewing others through
the tinted glasses of hurt, resentment and disappointment
10. You stop
excusing them and start blaming them
11. You stop
building up and start belittling, berating, begrudging and
badgering
12. You stop
appropriate touch and start physical abuse
13. You stop
referring to each other in affectionate terms and start speaking to each in
antagonistic terms
14. You stop
appreciating the very thing that drew you together and start trying to change
them
15. You stop
respecting each other and start removing yourself from their influence
Major areas we need to come into
agreement in our marriages:
1. Agreement on
money spending, investing, giving, saving
2. Agreement on
raising children
3. Agreement on
love
4. Agreement on
values
5. Agreement on
faith
6. Agreement on
vision/goals
7. Agreement on
lifestyle
8. Agreement on
relationships
9. Agreement on priorities
10. Agreement
on communication
11. Agreement
on boundaries
WHAT IS LOVE?
1. Love is a walk
(Ephesians 5:1,2)
2. Love is a
fruit (Galatians 5:22,23)
3. Love is a way
(1 Corinthians 12:31)
4. Love is a
lesson (1 Thessalonians 4:9)
5. Love is a
commandment (John 15:12)
TEXT: 1
Corinthians 13:1-13; 1 John 15:9-13; Matthew 24:12, 13; Jude 20-25; Genesis
2:24
STUDY GROUP QUESTIONS:
1. According to
Jude 20-24, how can we keep ourselves in the love of Christ?
2. Identify one
thing in 1 Corinthians 13 that jumps out at you about how God’s love behaves.
3. How can
Christians and the church be more loving?
4. There are
many, but tell us three people in your life that have shown you God’s love.
5. In what way
could you use a little more of God’s love?
6. What would
this world be like if all of God’s love was suddenly removed from the earth?
7. Which of the
symptoms that you are letting your love sour listed in the outline do you need
to work on?
PRAISE REPORTS & PRAYER REQUESTS:
ACTION POINT: This week I
will choose to come into agreement on a deeper level in the covenant
relationships in my life.