1. Introduction:
A. God created marriage and the family and organized them in the way that is best for us. He knows what we need.
B. If our family life is right, everything is better. If family life is messed up, nothing else is really good.
C. We can probably serve Jesus in and through our family more than any other way. o Our families can really be happy if we let Jesus as Lord direct them.
2. Choosing A Spouse: Before marriage, be guided by Christ's teaching in the way you treat people of the opposite sex. Choose a spouse who will completely share with you in serving the Lord through your marriage.
A. Does God want a Christian to marry an unbeliever? (1 Corinthians 7:39; 2 Corinthians 6:14)
B. If one wants to obey God in this, whom will he or she date?
C. Does God want people to have sex outside of marriage? (1 Corinthians 6:18; 7:2)
3. Husbands: In marriage, what is the main thing the Lord Jesus tells the husband to do? (Ephesians 5:25-29)
A. Who is the example of the husband's love for his wife? (Ephesians 5:25)
B. Christ's love for the church caused him to do what for it? (Ephesians 5:25)
C. The relationship between the husband and the wife is compared to what other relationship? (Ephesians 5:23)
D. What is to be the husband's attitude as he leads his wife? (1 Peter 3:7)
E. What will happen if he does not have this attitude? (1 Peter 3:7)
F. What is another thing Jesus tells the husband to do? (1 Timothy 5:8)
G. What decision is the husband and father responsible for making and carrying out? (Joshua 24:15)
4. Wives: What is the main thing Jesus as Lord tells the wife to do? (Ephesians 5:22-24,33)
A. What is her example in this? (Ephesians 5:24)
B. Can the family or any other organization succeed without leadership?
C. Whom has God placed in leadership in the family? (Ephesians 5:23)
D. Do you think the wife is to submit to her husband because he is always right, or because he is her husband?
E. When we disobey God's appointed authority, whom do we also disobey? (Romans 13:1-7)
F. If a wife submits to her husband only when she thinks he is right, is this submission?
G. If the wife obeys her husband but resents it and takes out the resentment in nagging, sexual coldness or in some other way, do you think she is submitting in the spirit that the Lord Jesus teaches?
H. Who, as our example, won the greatest victories and the greatest honor through humility and submission? (Philippians 2:5-11; Matthew 16:24-25 )
I. Why was Eve given to Adam as a wife? (Genesis 2:18-25)
J. What is the basic family role which the Lord has given the wife? (1 Timothy 5:9-10,14; Titus 2:4-5; Proverbs 31:10-31)
K. How can a wife help her husband if he is not a Christian believer? (1 Peter 3:1-4)
5. Husbands And Wives: What are some other things that Jesus teaches husbands and wives? (Ephesians 5:25; Titus 2:4)
A. Do you think this love that is commanded is basically a feeling or a decision? (Can feelings be commanded?)
B. What will this love always cause a couple to do?
C. Colossians 3:13
D. 1 Corinthians 7:2-5
E. How does God feel about a married person flirting with or allowing him self to daydream about someone besides his spouse? (Where does adultery start?) (Job 31:1; Matthew 5:28-30)
F. What does the Lord teach about sexual immorality and adultery (marital unfaithfulness)? (1 Thessalonians 4:3-8; Hebrews 13:4)
G. Is sex within lawful marriage something dirty, or something clean to be enjoyed? (Who made our sexual natures?) (Genesis 1:27; Hebrews 13:4)
H. If a husband or wife withholds sex from the other, he or she is disobeying God.
I. 1 Corinthians 7:3-5
J. Mark 10:2-9
K. When a couple marries, what should be their intention? (Romans 7:1-3)
L. Is divorce an option for Christians? (Mark 10:9; Malachi 2:13-16)
M. If a person divorces his spouse (except for the cause of fornication) and marries another, what sin does Jesus say that he or she commits? (Matthew 19:9)
6. Children: What is the main thin8 Jesus tells a child to do? (Ephesians 6:1-3)
A. Who is the authority whom the Lord has placed over children? (Colossians 3:20; Exodus 20:12)
B. Disobeying or disrespecting our parents is disobeying God.
7. Parents: What is the main thing Jesus tells parents to do? (Ephesians 6:4; Proverbs 22:6)
A. Whose is the primary responsibility for teaching children God's way, the church's or the parents'? (Deuteronomy 6:5-7)
B. How often should parents talk to their children about God and his way? (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)
C. Do you think the child will adopt godly beliefs and values if the parents do not seriously live these things before them? (Romans 2:21-24)
D. Will the Lord hold parents responsible for correcting their children? (1 Samuel 3:12-13)
E. What is the purpose of parental discipline? (Proverbs 22:15; 29:15)
F. If a parent will not discipline a child to prevent him from going wrong, does the parent love the child? (Proverbs 13:24)
G. How does God, our Father, show his love to his children? (Hebrews 12:5-11)
H. If a child does not learn to submit to authority while at home with his parents, how do you think this will affect his ability to submit to teachers, church leaders, employers, government authorities, and to God?
I. If a child does not learn by discipline to control himself and do things he doesn't want to do, how do you think it will affect his ability to cope with life's pressures later?
J. What characteristic of parents makes discipline not damaging but strengthening to a child? (Proverbs 13:24; Titus 2:4)