purposes, it was time to introduce the armor of God as a whole, God as the source of strength, and truth as the central piece of the armor. I used an object lesson of boxing gloves to demonstrate that a boxing glove gives power and protection to the boxer.7 One participant asked a question at the beginning of the lesson that reflected understanding for the urgency of spiritual warfare and set the stage to teach about the armor of God. She asked, “What do we do now?” This was a suitable question at that time, so I started explaining that Ephesians 6:10-18 is divided into two parts: warfare (Eph 6:10-13) and the full armor of God (Eph 6:14-18). I presented the three-fold meaning of the armor.8 Next, I explained the command to put on the armor to be able to stand against the enemy.
The belt of truth is the first weapon against the enemy. Believers must not be tossed by false doctrine and must also be truthful with each other. My aim was that participants would have confidence in God’s strength and His whole truth; also, that they would want to stand against the enemy by understanding what the truth teaches concerning their marriage, and by raising truth above their personal reasoning or feelings. Ultimately, the goal of the application of the belt of truth is to have Christ at the center of their lives and live with integrity and honesty. At the end of the lesson I asked participants about the lesson’s main points and listened to their responses. Their responses reflected
understanding. Moreover, I asked them to write the application of the belt of truth in their
7 See appendix 1.
8 Appendix 1 explains that the full armor of God is about Christ, what God provides, and is about the role of the believer.
booklet and I explained three practices that can hinder putting on the belt of truth.9 I also stressed the fact that lies are the currency of the enemy and can never bring unity to homes. I ended the lesson with prayers to allow the work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts.
Lesson 3: The breastplate of righteousness. Three main ideas were the focus of this lesson: imputed righteousness, practical righteousness, and living the new identity as individuals, spouses, or couple. The pedagogical idea of the lesson was that couples must respect each other’s identity in Christ; they must not condemn each other.
Moreover, because the enemy is an accuser, they should not accept any accusation from him, especially over their forgiven past. Couples must also walk worthy of their new status as children of God in unity, love, and holiness, putting off the old and putting on the new self. As an implication, couples must see their marriage as righteous, not defiled.
To confirm achieving these aims I first reviewed the lesson and then asked participants to reflect on the teaching to evaluate their understanding. At the end of the lesson 1 prayed for the participants.
I ended the weekend by doing three things. First, I asked participants to reflect on what they learned by writing in their booklet about their new perspective on struggles, the enemy, and warfare. Then, as a home assignment, I asked them to read the letter of Ephesians. I also told them to read more about the meaning of the heart and the enemy’s strategy included in their booklet.10 Finally, I prayed for new strength and new
understanding for all the participants.
Weekend 2
I began the second weekend by reflecting on the first three lessons. I asked participants some questions that they answered orally and in writing. I aimed to discover
9 Three practices that hinder putting on the belt of truth are (1) lack of knowledge, (2) raising traditions, opinions, and feelings above truth, and (3) selectivity in believing the Bible.
10 As referred to in appendix 2, the student booklet.
what specific concepts were life-changing to participants. To my amazement, the fact that God has purposes for their marriage was the main concept that caught most participants’
attention. Most agreed that they did not know about the spiritual dimension of marriage before the first weekend. Nine out of fourteen participants confirmed that they gained a completely new perspective toward the family institution and spiritual warfare. This discussion at was encouraging jumpstarting the teaching.11
Lesson 4: the gospel of peace. This lesson was about the gospel as the foundation of the believer’s peace with God and with one another as a family. Also, God’s peace provides steadfastness in the spiritual battle. The aim of the lesson was to explain how couples must first have peace with God through the gospel and then they can be in peace with each other. They can extend this peace through forgiving each other for any offence. Couples must keep their peace even in the middle of relational chaos. Furthermore, couples must proceed as a family with the gospel of peace, which is the greater purpose for marriage. In this lesson I put forth two important concepts: believers receive
forgiveness through grace and then they must grant this forgiveness to each other freely.
If believers have trouble granting forgiveness, then there might be a misunderstanding of the gospel or the concept of forgiveness. To evaluate if there was a misunderstanding about the gospel, I asked participants to answer questions from their booklet.12 I explained the gospel elements in detail after I received their written answers. I then explained the four promises of forgiveness by Ken Sande.13 Finally, I ended with prayer. I looked at
11 The following are some participants’ answers about their favorite concepts from the first weekend teaching: “To apply the armor of God on the family life is different and much better than to apply it only individually”; “The enemy is not my spouse, there is a real enemy”; “I am amazed to know about the stewardship of fatherhood”; “ I loved the girl and we got married, but I never knew that God has purposes for my marriage”; “ We never realized that there is spiritual side for the marriage.”
12 See appendix 2.
13 Ken Sande and Tom Raabe, Peacemaking for Families: A Biblical Guide to Managing Conflict in Your Home (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 2002), 84-85. This was taught in the context of repentant spouses.
their answers to find any gaps in understanding that could hinder peace in their marriage relationships. The analysis of participants’ answers, which I show in the following section, showed that I achieved the aim of the lesson.
Lesson 5: The shield of faith. In lesson 5, I focused on the mobility of the shield of faith. The implication of this mobility is the ability to defend any kind of satanic attack. I also highlighted the order of the verse as it is in the middle of the armor of God, explaining that the words above all indicate the importance of faith for all the pieces of the armor. I explained the definition of faith (Heb 11:1), the content of faith (Eph 1–2), and how faith must be used as a defense weapon in the battle. I encouraged participants with the imagery of couples holding their shields together and standing beside each other in faith for victory. Finally, because faith comes by hearing the Word of God, I asked if they recognized that they could cultivate faith by reading God’s Word. I ended with a challenge to choose between the doubts that Satan throws at them, the reality of their relationships, or the promises of God for victory. In Arabic it rhymed well; Satan (Shaytan), reality (Ayan), or faith (Eman)—believers can choose what they want to follow. I ended the lesson with prayer.
Weekend 3
Lesson 6: The helmet of salvation. I started the lesson by reviewing concepts about faith learned in lesson 5. I wanted lesson 5’s information to sink in before
reviewing understanding—a strategy I came to appreciate as a teacher. In this lesson, I connected to the culture to make sense of biblical truth by using an idiom that says, “May your head be saved.” People in Jordan use this idiom to offer condolences to people who lose a loved one, and it means, may God continue to give you life. I used this symbolic expression to explain that the head of the believer must be protected to continue living the life of faith.
I began this lesson by asking participants to write down what gives value to their identity. Then, I explained that salvation includes justification, sanctification, and glorification. Salvation provides inheritance and new identity in adoption (Eph 1–2). I also explained that the helmet covers the mind and secures thoughts from discouragement and doubt. The helmet is the hope of salvation (I Thess 5:8); it is the victory
accomplished by grace. Therefore, it helps the believer walk in faith, abandon the past, and live a secured present and a hopeful future.
At the end of the lesson, I aimed to confirm that participants developed a new perspective for their identity built on the foundation of adoption. I surveyed their
understanding by asking about the foundation of their identity as believers. I analyzed the difference between the participants’ answers before and after the teaching.14 As explained in the analysis section below, the answers show that I achieved the lesson’s aims.
Lesson 7: The sword of the Spirit and prayer. In this lesson I combined the sword of the Spirit and prayer together. I commenced by reviewing the previous lesson and some important thoughts to show them the whole line of thought we had followed thus far. Then, I asked participants about the difference between the belt of truth and the sword of the Spirit. After the participants responded, I clarified that the belt of truth is about the whole truth of God. The whole armor is based on the Word of God. However, the sword is about a specific word that the Holy Spirit gives against the enemy’s specific attack. I reflected on Jesus’ temptation (Matt 4:2-10) to explain how the Word of God can defend against satanic attacks. Lastly, I gave practical examples on how to defend the marriage relationship using the Word of God when Satan attacks with false thoughts and accusations. For instance, when spouses are attacked with thoughts to leave their marital relationship because of unmet needs, the sword of the Spirit at this moment would hold
14 For appendix 11, “Qualitative Assessment 5, Identity,” the pre- teaching question was,
“What are the things that make you feel valuable as a person, give you a sense of importance, and make your Identity?” The post- teaching question was, “What are the things that give foundation to your real identity as a believer?”
on to the following truths: God will meet all their needs (Ps 23), they are in a covenant relationship (Mal 2:14, Eccl 9:9) that cannot be broken, and they will only follow the ways of God (Ps 19). Such words can help couples defend their marriages and stop the attacks of the evil thoughts. At the end of the lesson I reviewed the main points to
confirm the participants’ biblical understanding of the sword of the Spirit and ended with prayer.
For the second part of lesson 6 I spoke about prayer. I first asked if participants pray together as couples and then I emphasized the urgency and need for watchfulness in prayer. I highlighted the word all in Ephesians 6:18 and the two prayers in Ephesians 1:17-20; 3:14-21. At the end of the lesson participants agreed to pray as a couple at least twice a week and to pray together as church families once a week. To create some anticipation, I informed participants that the next lesson would be about biblical confession and the healing of relationships.
Weekend 4
Lesson 8: confession. All participants were looking forward to this lesson