Week 12 · A marriage that gives itself away

Serving Side by Side

Read together: Acts 2:41-47

Also read: Romans 12:9-13 · Acts 18:24-26

The healthiest marriages are not turned inward. They have a shared work and an open door.

The heart of it

The first believers held to the apostles' teaching, to fellowship, to breaking bread, and to prayer, and they did it house to house. The church of God is people, not a building, and it grew through homes exactly like yours.

Priscilla and Aquila show up in Acts as a married couple in ministry together. They hosted a church in their home, worked a trade, traveled, and quietly taught a gifted preacher what he was missing. There is no hint that one of them was the ministry and the other the support staff. They served side by side.

Romans 12 gives the shape: love without pretending, be kindly affectioned, given to hospitality. Hospitality is not entertaining. It is making room. A marriage that makes room for others is a marriage that has stopped orbiting itself.

What to notice

They continued steadfastly. It was a habit, not a burst of enthusiasm.
They ate together with gladness and singleness of heart. Joy was part of the witness.
Priscilla and Aquila took Apollos aside privately rather than correcting him publicly. Unity mattered to them.
'Distributing to the necessity of saints' means real needs met with real resources.

Talk together

1Looking back over these twelve weeks, what has actually changed between us?
2What is one thing God has been saying to each of us that we want to keep working on?
3What could the two of us do together for someone else: a couple, a neighbor, a young family, our church?
4Who needs an open door at our house this month?
5What will our ongoing rhythm be now that this study is finished? Decide tonight, not later.

Your own journal

Answer these on your own during the week. They are yours; you are never required to read them out loud.

1. What has God changed in me over these twelve weeks?

2. What is the one thing I am still avoiding? Write it and set a date to talk about it.

3. What do I want my spouse to be able to say about me in five years?

4. Where is God asking us to serve? What is my honest hesitation?

5. Write a prayer of thanks for your spouse, then read it to them.

This week's practice

Invite someone into your home this month, and write down together the next thing you will study or do as a couple.

"Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another."

Romans 12:10

Pray together

Thank God for what He has done in these weeks. Offer your marriage to Him as something He can use.