Session 2 A Matter of the Heart
FOR GROUP PARTICIPATION These elements of the study are best used with others in a group setting.
How Did It Go Last Week? Share your successes and trials with the group. (10 minutes)
Talk briefly about the method(s) you used to remind yourself to behave properly in your marital “little moments.” Did you have any notable successes? Failures? Are you going to leave the reminders in place? And God Said… Read aloud Luke 6:43-45 . What is the Point? Read these statements aloud and keep them in mind during the video. (5 minutes) • All marriage problems are heart problems. • Lasting change in your marriage will always travel through the pathway of the heart. • You are your biggest marriage problem. Petition Pray this together aloud. Father Almighty, whose great power extends from the highest heavens even to the human heart, give us to see the sinful selfishness in our own hearts, and to submit to your Spirit at work in our hearts to transform us into loving marriage partners, after the model of Jesus, the perfect Lover of souls. Amen. Hear the Word 1. Read aloud Luke 6:43-45 , which we read last week, and also the related passage, Matthew 15:10-20 . Sinful behavior, like bad fruit, is merely an effect —what is the cause ? Better, where is the source of the problem? As we discussed last week, why do behavioral coping mechanisms, while helpful and often necessary, fail ultimately to fix our bad-fruit problems? 2. In dealing with marriage issues, Tripp likens addressing only outward behavior to nailing good apples on a bad-apple tree. Read aloud Matthew 23:27-28 . Describe the specifics of how whitewashing is the same as apple-nailing. Describe a few instances in which you have settled for apple-nailing in dealing with marriage issues. And what heart problems have you whitewashed with merely outward good behavior? Watch the video. (26 minutes) Let's Talk About That Discuss these questions. (30 minutes)
Session 2
WHAT DID YOU EXPECT?
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