Home > Sermons > MARRIAGE: Friendship Is…

MARRIAGE: Friendship Is Essential – Part 3

Bible references:
John 15
2 Peter 1
Philippians 2:12-13
James 4
Matthew 11:28-30
Hebrews 12:1-2
Acts 20
Ephesians 4:29
1 John 1:7

 Discussion Questions

Identifying how your family shaped you…
  1. Describe each family member with three adjectives and their relationship to you
  2. Describe your parent’s relationship
  3. How was conflict handled in your family? Anger? Tensions?
  4. How were gender roles and authority worked out in your family?
  5. how well did your family do in talking about feelings?
  6. How would your family describe you? How do you think your family think about you?
  7. How was sexuality talked about or not talked about? What were the implied messages?
  8. Were there any family “secrets” such as pregnancy, incest, or major financial scandals?
  9. What was considered success in your family?
  10. How was money handled? Spirituality? Holidays? Relationships wit extended family?
  11. Were there any heroes or heroines in the family? Scapegoats? “Losers”? Why?
  12. What kinds of addictions, if any, existed in the family?
  13. Were there traumatic losses in the past or present, such as sudden death, prolonged illness, stillbirths/miscarriages, bankruptcy, or divorce?
  14. How was spirituality expressed?
  15. What are your dreams for your future? How would you like to see them different when compared to your past?
Building our relationships…
  1. When we relate together, I am (you are) happiest when…
  2. When we relate together, I am (you are) saddest when…
  3. When we relate together, I am (you are) angriest when…
  4. The best thing about our relationship is…
  5. I am (you are) most afraid when…
  6. I feel (you are) most lonely with you (me) when…
  7. I feel (you are) loved most by you (me) when..
  8. My (your) greatest concern/fear for our marriage is…
  9. What I like most about myself is…
  10. What I dislike most about myself is…
  11. What I like most about you is..
  12. My greatest concern/fear for you (me) is…
  13. The feelings that I have the difficulty sharing with you are…
  14. The feelings that I can share most easily with you are…
  15. I long to connect with you spiritually by…
  16. When I think of relating to you spiritually, I feel…
  17. My dreams for are relationship are…
  18. I want to guard and build our relationship over the next 5 years by…