Affair Prevention in MarriageVoorbeeld

Every married couple has baggage. There is baggage we bring into marriage and baggage we create within the marriage. Some of this is simply from our family of origin. For all of us there are things we saw there that we would like to replicate – or to avoid. This is part of what it means to “leave [our] father and mother,” as Genesis describes in the marriage relationship. When we enter marriage, we are no longer functioning in our family of origin, but beginning a new family unit.

In today’s video, we meet Adam and Kristi. We’ll look at their first years of marriage. If the small differences they encountered in the beginning of their marriage had been addressed, they could work toward being “two united into one.” But they were not. They lived separate lives at some points.

As we seek God and his plan for our marriage, we can be confident He has the answers for us. Ephesians 5 tells us that His plan for marriage is that it reflects His selfless and sacrificial love for the Church. When we stand before Him and enter into the covenant of marriage, He will do everything we allow Him to to give us the marriage he has designed uniquely for us. Helping us work through and eliminate the baggage in our marriage is another one of God's specialities!

After you watch the video, talk about the following questions.

• Share the first three impressions you had of each other when you met.
• What were the best things about your dating relationship?
• What were the pros and cons in the first years of your marriage?
• What small ways have you been living “separate” from your spouse?
• Are there any red flags that weren’t addressed while you were dating? Will you address them now?

As you answered the questions, what did you each learn? What did you learn as a couple? Taking into account what you learned, what is a good next step for the two of you?