Strengthening Your Marriage Through Daily Choices

If your marriage is in trouble, I have one question: Do you believe God can work a miracle in your relationship?

Even if your answer is no, I encourage you to tune in to Focus on the Family with Jim Daly to hear the story of Ron and Jody Zappia. To say that they had a shaky start to their marriage is an understatement. Within the first six months, Jody was overcommitted in her career and Ron had an affair with a co-worker.

When Ron’s affair was revealed, Jody sought counseling from a local church. There, she met an Asian woman who barely spoke English but got Jody headed in the right direction with some wise advice. She said, “Go to counseling with your whole heart, not half.”

Ron and Jody came to Christ a short time later and discovered that healing is possible for your marriage even when you feel like all is lost. If you have the faith to believe that God is big enough to intervene in your circumstances, there is hope. Through God’s grace and wisdom, your marriage can not only survive, but thrive.

In our conversation, Ron and Jody share seven choices that husbands and wives can make to keep their relationship strong or to rebuild it if problems have developed:

Grow spiritually.
Love unconditionally.
Serve sacrificially.
Please regularly.
Persevere persistently.
Communicate respectfully.
Bless abundantly.

Join me for Ron and Jody Zappia’s amazing testimony of faith on your local radio station, online, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, via Google Podcasts, or listen on our free phone app. They’ll help you rebuild a marriage that’s forged in trust, love, and grace.

In the meantime, if you need immediate help, we have caring Christian counselors on staff, and it would be their privilege to offer you a free consultation. Call us, leave your name and number, and they’ll get back with you just as soon as possible. The number during business hours is 1-800-A-FAMILY (232-6459).

I also want to remind you about Hope Restored. If you’re on the brink of divorce, our Hope restored marriage intensives can go a long way toward facilitating healing between you and your spouse and bringing restoration to your relationship. The intensives take place in five locations: Branson, MO; Greenville, MI; the WinShape Retreat Center in Rome, GA; Cave Creek, AZ; and our newest retreat center in Wimberley, TX. The number for Hope Restored is 1-866-875-2915, or visit online.

We also have a full devotional series on infidelity available on the YouVersion Bible app. You’ll find almost 60 individual devotions with topics like Prevention: Protecting Your Marriage Against Infidelity; Crisis: When an Affair Is Discovered; and Recovery: Piecing Your Marriage Back Together. We also have a devotional series on YouVersion based on the book titled Aftershock, written by Joan Condie and Geremy Keeton, part of the leadership team in our counseling department.

Ron and Jody Zappia are authors of the book The Marriage Knot: 7 Choices That Keep Couples Together, which is available for a gift of any amount. Click here for more information or give us a call at 1-800-A-FAMILY (232-6459).

Ron is senior pastor of Highpoint Church in the Chicago area, a church that he and Jody planted in 2000. He also leads Highpoint Ministries, a teaching outreach. Jody has served in women’s ministry and works alongside Ron to help couples build strong marriages.