A unique aspect of the ministry of 2=1 is that both the husband and wife teach together. For those who have never done this before you might wonder where to start, for those who have tried to teach together but felt defeated when it didn’t come naturally this article is for you!

When we started teaching our first Married for Life class we felt sorry for the participants we fumbled our way through week by week and were blessed that the Holy Spirit did not let us down and the couples were extremely blessed. However we knew something needed to change in the way we flowed together if we were going to become more effective in ministry.

Prior to operating in the dynamic of teaching together each individual has their own way they like to flow. Imagine two rivers converging into one, at this meeting point there is often turbulence above and below the surface. This is also a picture of the process of learning to flow together in ministry. It isn’t always smooth, it isn’t always easy and it often doesn’t feel natural! However when you visit the river a little further downstream you see that much has changed and that the river has harmonized together. We want to encourage you that while you might be finding teaching together difficult right now it will not always be that way soon you will discover as we did that it is the most natural thing in the world. It’s time to discover the power of teaching together!

Tips for Teaching Together

• Pray Together Make sure you do this as a first step!
  • If you prepare before you pray strife often enters the preparation process. More time and energy is put into arguing than planning the lesson.
  • Ask God to help you learn how to work together as a team.
  • Pray that He will show you the examples you should use and how to divide the lesson.
  • Pray protection over your preparation time so that no distractions or disagreements can interrupt the time you have set aside.
• Plan Together
  • Go through the lesson together and divide the lesson evenly into segments for each of you to teach.
  • Discuss. Which life examples you should share with the group. Remember it is more important to be transparent than to use a visual aid or object lesson.
• Practice Together
  • It is important to learn to work together as a couple and it is best to practice teaching the lesson together before your group is present. It is better to work out any difficulties in private than in public.
  • Practicing together should be at the end of your personal preparation time. Often couples make the mistake of believing that because they need to teach together all of their preparation time should be together. This can cause major strife if your preparation techniques are very different. However it is important that you spend time practicing teaching together to improve your ability to flow together.
• Teach Together
  • When you teach make sure you show that you are interested in what your spouse is saying. Don’t fall into the trap of zoning out and repeating what they have just said.
  • Remember to flow with each other in unity.
    • For those who have a tendency to be the more vocal of the couple make sure you respect your partner’s right to teach. If you find you are speaking much more than your spouse, remind yourself that this is a couple’s ministry.
    • If you tend to be the quieter spouse, make sure you don’t hide behind your spouse. God has given you both a message to bring to couples and you have a vital role.
• Praise Together
  • Recognize that God is the reason for change in couples’ lives and make sure you take time to thank Him and praise Him.
  • Take time to encourage each other. Criticism will not bring life to your ministry as a couple but when we encourage each other it will bring life.