Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas
Week 4: Chapter 3 — The Sustaining Power of Marriage
Read Chapter 3 of Sacred Marriage. Key passages: Ecclesiastes 4:9–12; Ruth 1:16–17; Song of Solomon 8:6–7
Previewing Week 4 of Sacred Marriage
Read 3 of 7 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 13-week guide when you’re ready.
After showing us what marriage exposes, Thomas turns to what it sustains — exploring how the covenant of marriage gives us a companionship that carries us through the hardest seasons of life.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Thomas describes the way a long marriage builds a kind of shared history and mutual knowledge that becomes a unique source of strength. How have you experienced that sustaining power in your own marriage — or longed for it?
2.He draws on the image of two people leaning against each other for warmth — from Ecclesiastes 4 — as a picture of the practical, earthy companionship marriage is designed to provide. How does the ordinary dailiness of marriage — not just its romantic peaks — serve as a form of grace?
3.Thomas discusses the way commitment itself — the fact that you have promised to stay — creates a form of security that romantic feeling alone cannot. Have you experienced that security? What does it feel like to be truly known and still chosen?