Daly Focus Blog
Today’s broadcast has me thinking a lot about one of my favorite verses in the Bible. In Romans 2:4, Paul tells us that it’s “God’s kindness that leads us to repentance.” That verse reminds me of how I ought to conduct myself toward others.
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 act as the hands and feet of Jesus to the world around them.
What’s your favorite song?
One reason it’s probably your favorite is because you enjoy hearing the vocals of the lead singer. But more than you realize, another cast of characters is just as important as the lead: the backing singers. Their chorus of voices harmonize with the lead and give the song a beauty, richness, and texture the main vocalist could never achieve alone.
What if every marriage had backing singers? Imagine a church where every follower of Jesus served as a backing singer to someone’s marriage – a chorus of voices uniting to strengthen the marriages of everyone around them.
Before Bob Kraning died in April 2020, he and his wife Carol were married for over sixty years. When it comes to enjoying a happy relationship, you might say that they had a lifetime of experience.
Whenever I hear about a couple like that, I can’t help but wonder, “What’s their secret?”
Bob provides answers in a recorded message we’re airing on our Focus on the Family Broadcast called “Twenty-Five Years and Still in Love.” Bob’s and Carol’s “secrets” are actually timeless truths available to all of us.
My wife and I approach recipes differently. Jean has a degree in biochemistry. She’s smart and sees life as a series of precisely calculated moves. To her, recipes are a detailed road map to be carefully followed. If the instructions call for one cup of flour, she’ll measure exactly one cup. She’ll even use a knife to scrape off the excess.
I’m more of a free spirit with recipes. I don’t see them as “a roadmap to follow” as much as “a few things to keep in mind.” I kinda, sorta measure ingredients, but not very carefully.
You thought you married the perfect person. Then, over time, you began to notice flaws. Your spouse wasn’t as kind and loving as they used to be. Now you fight with each other, you blame each other, and you never really discuss tough issues because that leads to more conflict. You wonder if you made a mistake.
What if there’s something deeper going on? Is it possible that Satan is attacking your marriage and you’re experiencing spiritual warfare?
Darrell Waltrip was one of the most successful drivers on the NASCAR circuit in the 1980s.
Together, he and his wife, Stevie, are chairpersons for Motor Racing Outreach, a Christian organization that holds chapel services for the drivers, crews, and their families. They also distribute Christian literature and offer other support for those in the NASCAR community. I appreciate the work they perform at NASCAR tracks on weekends.
I got the opportunity to speak with Darrell and Stevie on our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Marriage in the Stressful World of NASCAR.” We recorded at the Darrell Waltrip Museum in front of a live audience of Focus friends right before a race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Matt Hammit was the lead singer of the Christian rock band Sanctus Real for 20 years. In the early years of the band, performing at a music festival, he noticed a beautiful girl in overalls dancing like no one was watching. The next day, at another worship event over three hours away, he saw her again.
Her name was Sarah. Raised in a Christian home, she became a “party girl” in college. When she saw Matt onstage at the music festival leading worship, she felt drawn to him and prayed, “God, I’ll quit drinking if you let me marry that guy.” They began dating and quickly fell in love.
What “season” is it for your marriage? Is it summer because things are warm and sizzling with your spouse? Or is it winter because things feel a little chilly?
I remember how it felt when Jean and I fell in love. Like many couples in a new relationship, we enjoyed being together every chance we could, and daydreamed about seeing each other when we couldn’t. It was easy to think, “We’ll always feel this way!”
But relationships are like the weather; they change.
“It’s just like an American to think you invented the family.”
That’s what Dr. Lilian Wahomey, a psychologist in Kenya, jokingly said to me over lunch one day. I met with her almost 25 years ago to explore ways Focus on the Family could come alongside families in Africa.
I asked, “Do you think a focus on marriage and parenting is be relevant in this part of the world?”
With a friendly smile, she reminded me that the core needs of marriages and families transcend language, culture, nationality, and socio-economic status.
“For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother, be united to his wife and the two shall become one flesh.”
That verse, Genesis 2:24, is usually referred to in the context of marriage. But Pastor Ted Cunningham pointed out to me that it actually begins as an observation about parenting.
The verse declares that a man will leave his father and mother. It assumes that our children will leave home as adults, not as children who must then set out on a journey to become grownups on their own.
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.
