marriage Archives

The Lesson Adam and Eve Can Teach About Cherishing Your Spouse

“…to love and to cherish, till death do us part.”

A lot of us recited similar vows at our wedding, but no sooner did we walk the gauntlet of flying rice than the word “cherish” began fading from our vocabulary. We didn’t mean for it to happen. The years went by, we settled into our lives, and we woke up one day with a marriage that was missing something deeper, more satisfying.

Visible light is perceived as only one color, but shine it through a prism, and you discover it’s actually a whole rainbow.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, husband, intimacy, marriage, wife December 28, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

When Clams Marry Crowbars

Are you a clam or a crowbar?

That’s an analogy Dr. David Clarke uses to help husbands and wives understand how their poor communication skills have landed them in his counseling office.

In almost every marriage, there’s a clam. The percentages suggest it’s usually men, but it can be women, too.

In either case, clams are the ones who don’t naturally talk on an emotionally deep level. They clam up. But every time they do, their spouses break out a crowbar to pry them open.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, husband, marriage, relationships, wife December 18, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Three Steps of Kindness That Can Transform Your Marriage

Today’s broadcast has me thinking a lot about one of my favorite verses in the Bible. It reminds me of how I ought to conduct myself in the name of Christ. In Romans 2:4, Paul tells us that it’s “God’s kindness that leads us to repentance.”

Kindness is a fruit of the Spirit – an expression of God’s nature through us – and one of the most powerful tools for Christians who wish to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the world around them.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, husband, marriage, wife December 15, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Focus on the Family Best Seller List

Week Ending December 10th

1. Forgive, Let Go, and Live by Deborah Smith Pegues

2. Men Who Love Fierce Women by Leroy and Kimberly Wagner

3. Your Teenager Is Not Crazy by Dr. Jeramy Clark and Jerusha Clark

4. Pure Pleasure by Gary Thomas

5. Adventures in Odyssey: The Blackgaard Chronicles #1 – Opening Moves

6. Cherish by Gary Thomas

7. Live Original by Sadie Robertson

8. Adventures in Odyssey: The Blackgaard Chronicles #2 – Pawn’s Play

Topics: Current Events Tags: faith, family, intimacy, marriage, relationships December 12, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Loving and Leading Your Strong Woman

Fire can cook you a nice steak, or it can burn your house to the ground. The difference lies in how well you harness its power.

It’s the same with a strong-will. There is a lot of good that comes from having what LeRoy and Kimberly Wagner describe as a “fierce” personality. But a strong-will gone wild can wreak havoc in a person’s life.

Fierce doesn’t have to mean obnoxious, loud, or rude. A fierce woman can be strong and beautiful.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, family, husband, marriage, wife December 7, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Is Your Marriage SMART?

What’s your EQ?
Your IQ is a measure of your intelligence. Your EQ is a measure of your “emotional intelligence.”

The term was coined in 1995 by Daniel Goleman, who first applied the concept to businessmen and women. He described emotional intelligence as the degree to which you understand your own emotions, the emotions of others, and can make healthy relational choices as a result. The concept eventually spilled outside the business world into other arenas.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, marriage, relationships November 27, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

This is What Happens When You Affirm Your Husband

Marital relationship studies generally examine the factors that contribute to the downfall of a marriage. One revolutionary study took an opposite approach. It followed 373 happy, successful couples for 22 years and looked at what went right.

One of the pivotal conclusions the study reached was that couples enjoyed higher marital satisfaction when wives affirmed their husbands. That’s a simple enough premise, but it can be surprisingly difficult for many women to do.

Christian women desire to be good wives and desire to connect with their husbands.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, marriage, wife November 17, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Singles, Here’s the Secret to an Enduring Marriage

“Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33, ESV).

If you’re single, have you ever applied that verse to your dating relationships and search for a godly spouse?

Many Christian singles seek the same things in a mate as non-Christian singles. They focus on whether or not they’re attracted to one another, share common interests, enjoy each other’s company, or even if they share sexual chemistry.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, marriage, relationships October 30, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Help! I Don’t Have Time for My Spouse… I’ve Got Kids

Remember when you were first married? You and your spouse talked, had fun every weekend, and always seemed to have time for one another.

Then you became parents.

Now it seems every moment is busy with sports practice, dentist appointments, and school programs. Once a couple has children, it can be tough to fit each other in. Their marriage routinely gets pushed down the priority list.

It seems justifiable in the moment because parenting does require a lot from parents.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, marriage October 27, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

It’s Never About the Fall. It’s About the Recovery.

Chocolate was a symbol of how bad Sandy and Tom’s marriage had become.

They were in a drive-thru ordering food, and Sandy asked for a chocolate shake. Tom said “no” and forced her to reorder. Vanilla, he believed, was the better choice. He was convinced chocolate would make her face break out and cause her to gain weight.

Tom didn’t realize it at the time, but the problem wasn’t chocolate, it was control. To get the marriage he was after, Tom thought he had to rule with an iron fist.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, marriage October 19, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura