Breathe Spiritual Life into Your Marriage

As followers of Christ, we believe that marriage is a symbol of something spiritual and sacred. In Ephesians 5:32, the apostle Paul calls marriage a “mystery” and compares it to Jesus’ relationship with the Church.

So why do so many of us allow ourselves to be distracted by the busyness of life instead of plumbing the depths of relational intimacy. There’s so much to do that we put our marriages and our children on autopilot while we tend to more “important” matters.

Is there a way for believers to breathe spiritual life back into their marriage?

Author Gary Thomas is with us on our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Breathe Spiritual Life into Your Marriage” to answer that question. He joined us earlier this year at a special chapel event here at our campus. We interviewed him on stage before a live audience of about 40 couples who are special friends of Focus on the Family.

As you’ll hear, Gary encourages couples to base their marriages in a solid foundation, namely God’s Word. Popular notions of love, attractiveness, and passion are self-focused. They become about “me” instead of “we.” They steer us away from God’s design for what marriage could and should be.

We express our love to God by expressing our love to each other. Self-interest may move us into marriage, but God uses marriage to pull us out of selfishness.

If your marriage needs a new breath of spiritual life, I encourage you to tune into our program. Gary will inspire you to look beyond your own selfish desires to create a loving, connected, and intimate marriage. Listen to our full conversation on your local radio station, online, on iTunes, via Podcast, or on our free phone app.

While you’re online, why not take a few moments to try our free Marriage Assessment online tool? It will help you quickly determine what’s working well in your relationship and identify areas where you may need some improvement.

I’d also like to invite you to do ministry through us by giving generously so that we can respond to the hundreds of thousands of couples who contact us for help and resources for their families. We need you, and I look forward to our ongoing partnership!

For a gift of any amount, I’ll send you a copy of Gary Thomas’ book A Lifelong Love: Discovering How Intimacy with God Breathes Passion into Your Marriage. Visit our website or give us a call at 1-800-A-FAMILY (232-6459).

And remember that today is Bring Your Bible to School Day. If you’re not familiar with it, Bring Your Bible to School Day is a nationwide, student-led movement that’s observed by hundreds of thousands of students from over 50,000 schools across the country. Today’s events are designed for two purposes: first, to share the Bible’s message of love and grace. And second, to celebrate religious liberty and freedom of speech in the United States. You can find great resources and more information here. We also have the Live It Challenge, which will empower you to dive deeper into God’s Word with your children. All of the details can be found here.