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How Should You Model Your Marriage Story?
If you do see your marriage as a story, as we learned in the previous lesson, the next likely question is the following: what makes for a good marriage story?
After all, some stories are good: you want to retell them, you want to reread or rewatch them.
Some stories aren’t so good: reading or watching feels like a waste of time. Some are so bad you want to walk away in the middle.
Isn't this similar to marriage?
How, then, can you make sure your marriage is a good story?
Imagine the following: you’re about to board an all-day flight and can choose one of two books to bring. The first book was written by someone who studied the best stories in history, learned what were the key elements that made those stories so great. The second book was written by someone who was just winging it and has never even read a great story.
Which book would you bring on your flight?
Most likely, you’d prefer the book written by a writer who read, studied, and appreciates good stories.
Couldn’t the same apply to your marriage story? That if you want a good marriage story, you should at least know of a good love story you can reference and study?
Thankfully, the Bible is not just a love story, it’s a great love story. It’s not just one where the characters fall in love.
It's a story where the readers, themselves, fall in love.
In fact, the Scriptures liken the Gospel to a marriage. When Paul refers to Christ’s sacrifice for the church, he compares it to a husband’s love for his wife.
“This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.”
Ephesians 5:32-33 ESV
We know that, in principle, the Gospel and all of the Scriptures have the power to shape the arc of our life. God, himself, is able to “rewrite the text of your life.”
But how exactly does your marriage story retell this love story of the Bible?
The way to do this is to borrow a technique used by screenwriters of blockbuster movies.
Find out how in the next lesson.
Questions :
- If you had to describe the Bible as a “love story,” what would you say?
- Why would someone have a marriage not modeled after a great love story?
- What could such a marriage look like?
Scripture
About this Plan
Wherever you are in your marriage, you are in the middle of a story. Like writing an actual story, you can approach your marriage in one of two ways: aimlessly, going with whatever pops in your mind on a given day, or intentionally, based on a deep study of other great stories. Learn how to model your marriage on the greatest love story ever told: The Gospel.
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