Talking Points:

  • Want to be an effective marriage mentor? Learn these five essentials… and put them into practice!
  • Know the couple. Invest time and build rapport so you can establish trust for your future conversations.
  • Know the Basics. Get to know our flagship Marriage Basics series to understand the three pillars of a healthy marriage: choose love, earn trust, and keep talking.
  • Know the library. Dig into all of the conversation starters at pursueGOD.org, and be ready to use content from the family, faith, and life categories.
  • Know your limits. Draw on boundary on your time (if necessary), and don’t forget that you’re not a professional counselor.
  • Pray. Remember to depend on God for results, and be sure to pray as a couple for the other couple.

Discussion:
  1. Read the talking points above as a group, including scripture references. What are your initial thoughts about these points or about the podcast lesson (see audio above)?
  2. What are some questions you can ask the couple in the first meeting to get to know them? Make a list. (Hint: what would you want someone else to ask you?)
  3. List the three pillars of a healthy marriage. Which one do you think would be the hardest to talk about, and why?
  4. Take a look at the faith category online and identify three topics that might be great conversation starters for a couple who is investigating Christianity.
  5. What are some signs that it might be time to recommend a professional counselor for a couple? Make a list.
  6. Why is it important to pray together as a couple for the couple you are mentoring? What are the benefits?
  7. Next steps: talk through Marriage Basics if you haven’t already, and then cover additional training topics as needed.