Are you believing the best in each other? Love believes the best. In this Double Date with Mark and Jill, we dig into another part of the I Corinthian 13 “love chapter” in the Bible to explore what it looks like practically to apply God’s word to our marriage.
1st Corinthians is read at many weddings. Most of us long for a 1st Corinthians love but too often we want to receive it but don’t realize what it really looks like to give it. In this episode, Mark and Jill talk about what it is to love and to “bear all things.”
Talk about it:
What is one takeaway or personal challenge you have from this teaching?
How can I love you better? (When your spouse answers this, just listen and respond with, “Thank you for sharing that. I’ll try to be more aware of this in the future.”)
Think about it:
How do I respond when I’m frustrated? Is it a loving response?
To bear all things has the meaning to cover like a roof. A love that bears all things protects in the same way a roof protects a house. Do I protect my spouse?
Is my love steadfast or is it finicky?
Am I accepting God’s love so I can then share it with my spouse?
Notes and Quotes
1 Corinthians 13:7 ESV, “Love bears all things…”
We don’t have to “bear all things” alone. God will give us all we need to love, as He loves us.
Bearing in love many times is to love others who may not be loving us back.
I Corinthians 13:6 says this to us: “Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.” What does that look like lived out in marriage? In this Double Date with Mark and Jill we are exploring how to make truth safe in marriage.
Talk about it:
What is one takeaway or personal challenge you have from this teaching?
Is there an unloving action I do that you you feel I justify or rationalize? (When your spouse answers this, just listen and then respond with, “Thank you for sharing that. I’ll try to be more aware in the future.”)
Think about it:
Are you possibly guilty of driving the hurt in your marriage?
Can you identify an unloving action that you rationalize is ok?
Notes and Quotes
1 Corinthians 13:6 ESV love does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.
1 Corinthians 13:6 ERV Love is never happy when others do wrong, but it is always happy with the truth.
Love isn’t a feeling. It is a choice, an action, a decision that aligns with God’s Truth.
I Corinthians 13:5 tells us that love does not insist on its own way. What does that look like lived out? Join us as we consider if our love listens well.
What is one takeaway or personal challenge you have from this teaching?
Have you ever been around a person who doesn’t listen well? How did that make you feel?
Is there a time you feel I’m not listening to you? (When your spouse answers this, just listen and then respond with, “Thank you for sharing that. I’ll try to be more aware in the future.”)
Think about it:
How do I respond when life doesn’t roll out as I expected?
What are my deeper thoughts and feelings as I begin to demand my own way? Is fear a part of that?
Notes and Quotes
1 Corinthians 13:5 ESV, “Love does not insist on its own way…”
God’s word says we are not loving when we insist upon our own way.
The God Tool of Acceptance and the God Tool of Humility are tools we need to use to not insist on our way. (Learn more about God-Tools here.)
The theme of our marriage, since we are being honest, has been “grow up.” It’s hard to admit immaturity, but this is absolutely necessary for growth. 1 Corinthians 13:11 speaks to this idea of growing up. Join Mark and Jill in this conversation, When Love Grows Up.
Talk about it:
What is one takeaway or personal challenge you have from this teaching?
Is there some area of life you’d like for us to be more mature as a couple? What’s the next step we could take to start that rolling?
Talk about ways you could personally grow up in your love.
Think about it:
Is my love mature or not? How would you describe your love?
Are you loving as Christ loves us?
Read 1 Corinthians 13:4-11 and highlight where you are challenged to love.
Notes and Quotes:
1 Corinthians 13:11 ESV “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.”
We are given detailed instructions on growing up in love and now we are directed to grow up!
