Take Your Marriage Back from Porn
“Fight for Love” offers hope, courage, and practical guidance for women whose husbands are caught in porn addiction. #BookGiveaway
Encouragement for Hurting Husbands
God has strong encouragement for husbands who are praying for reconciliation in their marriages.
12 Choices for An Extraordinary Marriage (Part Two)
The first year of marriage doesn’t have to be hard. Learn about some intentional choices that can make your marriage extraordinary in Part 2 of this two-part post by Kristen Hogrefe.
Resources for Celebrating Passover and Easter
Simple ways to celebrate Passover and Easter. How to make Resurrection cookies. Holy Week devotionals for marriage.
12 Choices for an Extraordinary Marriage (Part One)
The first year of marriage doesn’t have to be hard. Learn about some intentional choices that can make your marriage extraordinary in Part 1 of this two-part post by Kristen Hogrefe.
Core Strengths for Marriage (Part Two)
Although every marriage is different, there are four concepts that add immense strength to any marriage: honor, attentiveness, commitment, and kindness.
Core Strengths for Marriage (Part One)
Developing these core strengths will make all the difference in your marriage: honor, attentiveness, commitment, and kindness.
Thank You
If you are working to honor your marriage, then please allow me to say this to you: Thank you! On behalf of the entire Body of Christ, I thank you. Your faithfulness in marriage is a gift of strength to all of us. If you are honoring your marriage—whether your Read more…
The Love Chapter (Adapted)
1 Corinthians 13* If I speak to my spouse using tactful “I feel” messages and skillful conflict-resolution strategies, but I do not love, I am like a clanging cymbal or a car alarm that won’t shut off. And even if I have an advanced degree in marriage counseling and understand Read more…
(Video) Interview: Brain Science, Joy, & Marriage
What is the greatest motivator in life? What does brain science tell us about joy?How can we trigger the circuitry in our brains so that our marriages are strengthened? These are some of the questions that Chris Coursey answers during a fascinating conversation about his new book, co-authored with Marcus Read more…
How to Increase the Joy in Your Marriage
Do you know the 4 habits that will fill your marriage with joy? Marcus Warner and Chris Coursey have written an intriguing new book entitled, The 4 Habits of Joy-Filled Marriages. I love the underlying premise of this book: You can build joy into your marriage. Without trying to fix Read more…
The Marriage Knot: 7 Choices that Keep Couples Together
Ron and Jody Zappia were still newlyweds when their marriage began to unravel. Stunned by the crisis, they committed themselves to learning how to tie the knot of marriage so that it would hold them together for a lifetime. Almost thirty years of marriage later, Ron and Jody are sharing Read more…
Peace for the Storm-Tossed Family
Quite frankly, I wasn’t eager to read about “the storm-tossed family.” But as I began to read Russell Moore’s latest book, I had to restrain myself from bombarding a friend with texted pictures of underlined passages from the book. You may not be eager to read about the tossing of Read more…
The Gospel of Marriage and the Glory of Gender
How significant are individual marriages to the Body of Christ? How important is a Biblical understanding of gender? Many Christians believe that marriage and sexuality are private issues which often distract us from the more important matter of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. But could it be that when Read more…
What is Your Marriage Legacy?
Forty-seven years of marriage can provide a wealth of knowledge and insight, especially when that marriage has been built on biblical principles. Drawing from that rich experience, Crawford and Karen Loritts have written a new book entitled, Your Marriage Today … And Tomorrow. The book emphasizes creating marriages that are Read more…
Rebuilding Your Marriage When Recovering from Addiction
Today’s guest blog was written by Adam Cook, who started AddictionHub.org after losing a friend to substance abuse and suicide. He is passionate about helping people find the necessary resources to save their lives from addiction. Addiction is a disease that affects millions of people around the world. When someone’s drug Read more…
Does Your Spouse Delight You?
Does your spouse delight you? If not, what can you do about it? We tend to think that our delight is our spouses’ responsibility. We sit around and wait for them to delight us. Perhaps we feel sorry for ourselves as we criticize them for not delighting us. But we Read more…
3 Tips to Transform Any Marriage (A Webinar and a Winner)
Most successful couples practice this one skill. In fact, this skill is so important to a healthy relationship that the direction of a marriage can be predicted based on this skill alone. Do you know what that is? Another practice is so powerful in marriage that couples who make this Read more…
Hope for Difficult Marriages from Gary Chapman
What can you do if your spouse is abusive … or depressed … or addicted? How do you live with someone who won’t communicate? In his latest book, Dr. Gary Chapman tackles all of these difficult situations, and more. As he addresses each challenge, he offers strong encouragement and practical Read more…
What Singles Need to Know about Marriage (Part 2)
Whether you are single or married, there are six important things to know about marriage. We looked at the first three things last week, and today we will look at the remaining three: #4. Marriage will not complete you. Single people are not “halves” waiting for their other “halves” to Read more…
6 Things that Singles Need to Know about Marriage (Part 1)
Why should singles care about the topic of marriage? If marriage is not on your radar or even on your wish list, you may think that the subject is not relevant for you right now. But regardless of your marital status, you will benefit from understanding the divine design for Read more…
Praying Psalm 1 for Your Husband
LORD, I thank You for my husband. Thank You for creating him in Your image, designing him for greatness and strength. I pray that my husband will be like a great tree planted by streams of water, its branches reaching up to the sky. May my husband be a mighty Read more…
A Life Hack for a Great Marriage
You probably know some helpful life hacks for cooking, cleaning, or organizing your garage. Here’s one for your marriage: Remember the letters H-A-C-K. The word “hack” is not very appealing, but as an acronym, it represents some fantastic tools for building your marriage. HACK is an acronym for 4 super-important Read more…
How to Be a Burning Bush: Suffering Well
A Burning Bush One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Read more…
Who is the Chief Sinner in Your Marriage?
“I am the chief sinner.” Who would say something like that? We might be ready to nominate someone else for “chief sinner” at times, but we don’t often suggest ourselves. But in a letter to a young pastor, Paul wrote, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—and I Read more…
Coming Up:
Mark and Jill Be sure to join us ON THURSDAY (April 20) for our prayer call with Mark and Jill Savage. They have an incredible story of a restored marriage. (Read more about this couple HERE.) You will be encouraged by their insights, and you will be strengthened by the time of Read more…
No More Perfect Marriages: A Story of Restoration
God Specializes in Restoration Mark and Jill had been married for 25 years and had five children. He was a pastor, and she led a well-known women’s ministry. Together, they spoke on marriage and parenting. But then he had an affair, left the home, and asked for a divorce. However, God Read more…
Spring Celebrations: Passover and Resurrection Sunday
Happy Spring! Soon, we will be celebrating the most important events in human history: the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The first event rescues us from unending death, unrelieved aloneness, and the utter loss of every good thing. The second event gives us friendship-filled, bursting-with-beauty Life forever. And the brilliant spotlight in both Read more…
Marriage is Like Gardening
Trade Your Saw for a Spade When you build something out of wood, you measure, cut, sand, nail, and – viola!- results. You have visible signs of progress and defined outcomes. Best of all, you have much of the control. Relationships, on the other hand, are not easy to measure, and Read more…
“The Gospel and Same-Sex Marriage”
What is a Biblical response to same-sex marriage? How does the good news of Christ shape our thinking on this topic? If you are asking these questions, then you will want to read The Gospel and Same-Sex Marriage. Edited by Russell Moore and Andrew Walker, it is the most recent book in “The Read more…
How to Avoid “Divorce Month” (by Mike McManus)
(The following article was written by Mike McManus, syndicated columnist and president of Marriage Savers. I appreciate Mike’s fantastic work on behalf of marriages , and I am grateful for his permission to share this column, which first appeared on December 14, 2016, on EthicsAndReligion.com.) January is the worst “Divorce Month” of the year. No Read more…
Christmas Prayers
Thank You, LORD, for the awesome message of Christmas: You stoop down to make us great. (Psalm 18:35, NIV) How incredible! This is precisely what You did through the stunning miracle of the Incarnation. You stooped down beneath the stars, beneath a low stable door, entering our world to enter our lives. Read more…
If You are Discouraged in Your Marriage
Are you discouraged with your marriage? Has it become overwhelming? Are there too many broken parts or missing pieces? Maybe it is time to forget your marriage. No, I am not suggesting that you walk away from your marriage. What I mean is this: maybe it’s time to let go Read more…
Reformation Day: A Day to Celebrate!
A Holy-Day to Celebrate You probably know that today is Halloween. But did you realize that it is also Reformation Day? And did you know that Reformation Day is a fantastic thing to celebrate? On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the wooden door of the cathedral Read more…
Does Marriage Make You Happy or Holy?
You may have heard the question before: Did God design marriage to make us happy or to make us holy? My answer would be, “Yes, He did!” Let me explain. We tend to think of holiness as something that has to do with being good, staying in line, and doing Read more…
5 Great Quotes & 1 Interview
5 Great Quotes: Elizabeth Elliot put it this way: we married our spouses because we loved them, so now we must love our spouses because we married them. Be for your spouse! Don’t just commit to your marriage: commit to the good of your spouse. Love is a decision to seek Read more…
Loneliness and its Surprising Cure
We are all so much together, but we are all dying of loneliness. —Albert Schweitzer We have all experienced the ache of loneliness. It can cut to the deepest core of our being. It can be intensely painful. Relieving our loneliness is much harder than we expect. Just being surrounded Read more…
21 Myths about Sex
I really didn’t expect this. I recently read an advance copy of 21 Myths (Even Good) Girls Believe about Sex: Pursuing Love with Passion and Truth. I thought I might find some good nuggets of truth to share. I expected to find things that were helpful, factual, Biblical, and much-needed. Read more…
Singles, Soulmates, & Marriage
What Singles Need to Know about Marriage Last week, I was privileged to guest blog on Kristen Hogrefe’s fantastic website, ThinkTrueThoughts, where I shared several “true thoughts” about marriage: Marriage is a profound revealer of spiritual truth. You can have a great impact on others in the area of marriage. Purity is Read more…
Some True Thoughts for Singles
On her excellent website ThinkTrueThoughts, Kristen Hogrefe encourages her readers to do just that! Is there anything more important than thinking true thoughts? Believing truth is what brings joy, inner health, and successful living. This week and next, I am honored to be a guest blogger on Kristen’s site Read more…
Overcoming the Overwhelming
We make complicated messes. God gives simple instructions. The enemy tries to confuse and bewilder and overwhelm. We try to figure out the tangled, jumbled-up complexities; but with each broken piece we pick up, we become more perplexed. God gives simple instructions. “Humble yourselves.” We Read more…
What Are You Celebrating?
Interested in a FUN way to strengthen your relationships, including your marriage? Through an extensive review of studies on productivity and relationships, blogger Eric Barker discovered a common factor. He realized that this one thing strengthened friendships, boosted success in the work place, increased happiness, and strengthened motivation: celebration!¹ In summarizing Read more…
The Seven Rings of Marriage
The Seven Rings of Marriage is a new book by a new author. Jackie Bledsoe has a sincere passion to share what he’s learning in his marriage to encourage others in their marriages. His fervency is the strength of this book. The High Value of Marriage I greatly appreciate the high value that Jackie puts on marriage. Read more…
The Blessing: 5 Elements of a Life-Changing Gift
Earlier this month, Gary Smalley crossed the finish line and entered heaven. I was one of the many who were blessed by his writing and speaking. As he ran the race that God had marked out for him, Gary shared some wonderful truths that he was learning along the way. Be a Blessing! Read more…
A Different Kind of Valentine
I just spent an hour reading Valentine’s Day cards in a couple stores today. I am quite sure that I will be seeing red hearts when I close my eyes tonight. Spending an hour looking at greeting cards might sound painful to you. But that’s not the pitiful part. The Read more…
Is God’s Will for You a Mystery?
Sometimes, God’s Will can be a real mystery to us. At other times, it can seem rather mundane. But we can learn from several fascinating stories how to push through the mysterious and mundane into the marvelous! Kings have dreams. In ancient Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar had a disturbing dream. When Read more…
Christmas Prayer
In Psalm 18:35, God says that He stoops down to make us great. Isn’t that incredible? I think that also sums up the wonderful message of Christmas: God came down to lift us up. How amazing! I wrote about Psalm 18:35, Christmas, and marriage in “A Christmas Prayer for Our Read more…
10 Commandments … for Marriage
When God made a covenant with His people at Mount Sinai, He clarified the guidelines which would best nurture a healthy relationship. The Ten Commandments were given as principles which would guard the covenant. Just as there are principles which protect our relationship with God, our Covenant Partner, so there Read more…
Questions about Sex and Marriage (Part 3)
Today, I would like to share one last peek into Juli Slattery’s new book, 25 Questions You’re Afraid to Ask about Love, Sex, and Intimacy. Last week, I discussed a couple of those questions about sex and marriage, and today I would like to look at the last two: Chapter 24: How Read more…
25 Questions (Part 2)
Last week, I recommended to you Juli Slattery’s new book, 25 Questions You’re Afraid to Ask about Love, Sex, and Intimacy. Today and again next week, I want to share several of Juli’s gracious answers to those awkward questions. Chapter 1: What’s the big deal about sex? I was interested Read more…
