What’s the Opposite of Love?
We see couples every weekend at our intensives that are struggling. Many say they aren’t in love with each other anymore. And that statement prompts me to ask one of my favorite questions, “What’s the opposite of love?” It’s always fun to watch them as their faces and hearts and heads all connect with a reflexive answer, and they quickly blurt out, “Oh, […]
Keeping Your Promises
I find it ironic that today’s headlines are all about politicians wanting to keep their promises this year as though it’s an unusual thing to do. Isn’t it amazing how we as a culture have become so lax in keeping our commitments as followers of Jesus Christ? We can be thankful that we have a promise-Keeping Heavenly Father. He’s promised to never leave us or forsake us, to forgive […]
It’s Now or Never
I love the oldies and there’s a line from a song that I often sing on retreats…it goes “It’s now or never.” Have you ever felt that way? You’re at a place in your life where you just feel that things aren’t where you want them to be and you need to make a change and now is the time or you’re never going to get it done. Lots of couples begin to feel […]
Greatest Marriage Lie
In my years of working with couples and talking about their marriages, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone declare that they’re leaving their spouse because I deserve to be happy in my marriage. God wants me to be happy, doesn’t he? Now, I understand the root of their reasoning. We serve a good God who wants to shower good things on […]
4 Questions to Becoming a Better Spouse
Living in a world of crumbling marriages, you probably ask yourself the question “Am I a good spouse?” And if you’re like me, you might say “I’m better than average.” But what does that mean? And do I only want to be just better than average? The real question is “How can I become the best spouse possible?” So here are four questions that are going […]
How to Rebuild Trust After an Affair – Part 2 (the offended)
Last week we introduced a challenging process of rebuilding trust that one spouse has after being unfaithful. We believe that it’s always God’s desire for us to stay committed to our marriages, just as He remained true to his covenant with Israel when they were unfaithful. So this week we’d like to offer some words of advice to help […]
How to Rebuild Trust After an Affair – Part 1 (the offender)
Couples who are wrestling through unfaithfulness frequently ask, “How can we rebuild the trust we once had in our marriage?” That’s a great question, because trust is vital to all intimate relationships. When there is no trust, there is no safety, no foundation for intimacy to be built on. The trust of your spouse is something that most of us take for granted until unfaithfulness shatters […]
Foundation Check
I’m sure you desire to build your marriage upon the rock, so when the storms come, and we know they will, your marriage will stand. So, before couples start working on some of the cracks in the ceiling, holes in the wall, or the sticking doors and windows in their marriage, we encourage them to do a foundation inspection to see what they’re really building their […]
Do You Speak Your Spouse’s Spiritual Love Language?
I find it interesting that we, as Christian married couples, struggle to develop and strengthen our spiritual intimacy within our relationships. There are many reasons for this, but one big one might be our inability to understand and appreciate our spouse’s spiritual language. If you’re familiar with the love languages, you know that your primary love language isn’t always the same as your spouse’s. The same […]
Eight Magic Words
Recently I heard a speaker that challenged me…He shared that he knew the eight magical words that could conquer any conflict in marriage. Wow, I thought…as one who’s in marriage ministry, I’m eager to discover what these magical words were. But before letting us in on a secret, the speaker warned us that the eight magic words might be harder for us to say than we […]