Us Against the World: Our Secrets to Love, Marriage, & FamilySample

COLLABORATION

Scripture: “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor.” -Ecclesiastes 4:9 NIV

Devotional: For all these years Tam and I have been putting our minds together and working through life’s hurdles and challenges. Rarely do you see one of us without the other. Our mind-set is: if we started as a team, then we will finish as a team. The only way to win is as a team. I don’t make any major decisions without her input, and she doesn’t make any major decisions without my input. I trust her perspective and she trusts mine. But this kind of collaboration doesn’t happen overnight. It grows once you commit to working on the same team. We have to be willing to say no to our independent agenda and say yes to us working together. 

Marriage is not about you. It is about bringing life to others, starting with your spouse. 

A good marriage doesn’t just happen by accident; it happens on purpose. Every single time I talk to Tam, I have to decide to speak lovingly. Every time there is a disagreement, I have to choose to love anyway. Many people get the impression that a good marriage has to be an easy marriage. But that’s not true. Nobody’s marriage stays together because the people are perfect. Nobody’s marriage stays together because they always agree. Marriages that weather the storm do so because they decided, “We started as a team; we are going to end as a team.” 

WILL YOU PRAY WITH US? 

Lord God, you designed our marriage for a purpose. You knew the end of our story before we were born. You created us to be an answer to a problem in the world. Reveal your will for our marriage. Show us the purpose of our union. Anything that may disrupt our peace or compromise our collaboration, please remove it. We desire to please you and want to work together as a team. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 

1.  What gifts do you as a married couple bring to the world? What problem does your marriage seek to answer? 

2.  What ministry do you have together? What passions do you share? 

3.  How can you better collaborate with your spouse? How can you work together to bring out the best in each other? 

4.  Who have been models of healthy marriage for you? How have they impacted your marriage, and what aspects do you see in their marriage that you would like to see better incorporated into your marriage?