Daly Focus Blog
Popular evangelist J.John has a unique way of describing just about everything. Of marriage, he says, “In the swimming pool of marriage, there is no shallow end. You’re in the deep end from the moment you start.”
Many couples get married believing that the early days of marriage will be easy. In reality, they can be some of the most difficult and important days of your marriage. Once the wedding and honeymoon are over, life settles into a daily routine.
Author Lee Strobel says, “The question of whether God is real is the most consequential issue of all because so much hangs on the answer.”
Not only does Lee believe that as a renowned Christian apologist, but he also believes it from personal experience. Lee’s parents were Christian, but as he neared his teenage years, he started to ask tough questions, like, “How do we know that God exists?” and “If God is good, why do people suffer?”
No one wanted to engage his questions.
Rich Griffith is a single Dad of three teenage sons, all of whom he adopted. He soon realized that despite ministering to teenagers for many years, he didn’t know how to disciple his children as a parent.
Neither do a lot of parents. Many leave discipleship of their children to the church. But it’s best for parents to be intentional about discipling their children at home. Young children learn by watching and copying their parents. Modeling your faith at home is important because discipleship happens daily as you go through life together as a family.
As Christians, we orient our lives according to the Bible. We believe that God exists (Romans 1:20) and that He commands a host of angels who do His will (Luke 2:13-14) and who worship Him without ceasing (Revelation 4:8).
Yet, when it comes to spiritual warfare, we’re often double-minded. We believe that the devil and his angels exist (Matthew 25:41), but we rarely acknowledge their influence in our daily affairs.
Sooner or later, every couple gets bored with their marriage. Once the wedding and honeymoon are over, life settles into a daily routine. Careers are chased. Children are born. And there’s always a pile of laundry to wash and bills to pay. It’s inevitable that romance will fade.
The question is, what can you do about it? Left unchecked, a mild case of the yawns can become two people living separate lives. Before long, you’re thinking your best years of marriage are behind you.
Childhood adversity and childhood trauma are different.
Every child faces adversity. It’s part of being human in an imperfect, fallen world. Trauma, on the other hand, is a profoundly distressing experience that impacts a child’s sense of safety, trust, and control.
I experienced a lot of both as a kid. My parents divorced when I was five. My dad was in and out of my life for years afterward until he died addicted to alcohol, broken and alone.
My wife, Jean, and I took doing devotions with our boys seriously throughout their childhood. Along the way, we discovered that “serious” didn’t have to mean “boring.” We also learned that there was no one “right way” for passing our faith on to our children.
Jean preferred formal times of Scripture reading and devotion. Her degree is in biochemistry, so it fit her personality to whip up a lesson with the creativity and skill of a schoolteacher.
Marriage is a beautiful gift from God — but that doesn’t mean it’s always easy.
That’s good to remember if you or someone you love will soon be standing at a wedding altar. Most people get married anticipating good times together — laughter, adventure, years of building a family together — but we don’t give much thought to the hard moments to come.
Seasoned couples who are asked what they didn’t anticipate in their marriages often give answers like:
• “I didn’t know we’d have to survive betrayal.”
• “I didn’t know we’d have to rebuild trust.”
• “I didn’t know illness would change our lives.”
• “I didn’t realize how career decisions would uproot our lives.”
Author Leann Murphy has said all of that and more in her nearly 40 years of marriage.
What dragons do you need to slay?
Author Melanie Shankle says we all have one because life is a journey through difficult situations that teach us to trust God and by His grace grow through adversity. Sometimes dragons rise up out of an unhealthy, toxic childhood.
That was certainly the case for me. My parents divorced when I was five. My dad was in and out of my life for years afterward until he died from alcohol, broken and alone.
Sports are close to my heart. Not only was playing quarterback in high school a great learning experience, but my high school football coach led me to the Lord. I am a living example of what can happen when Christians show the love of Jesus to others through athletics.
But there’s a problem developing within youth sports. It’s becoming an avenue for turning young athletes into a commodity. As we’re all aware, athletics is a profitable industry.
Jim Daly is a husband, father and President of Focus on the Family and host of its National Radio Hall of Fame broadcast. His blog, Daly Focus, is full of timely commentary and wisdom designed to help you navigate and understand today’s culture. His latest book is Marriage Done Right.
