marriage Archives

Spiritual Intimacy

Good marriages are built on connection points. Money. Sex. Communication. And this one, which often gets overlooked: spiritual intimacy.

As the label suggests, spiritual intimacy is when a couple is unified in their beliefs about God and spirituality. Couples who aren’t unified run into trouble. Like Maria and John. They didn’t talk much about their spiritual beliefs when they were dating. After they got married, they were caught off guard when the challenges of life put their deepest values to the test.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage December 20, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Making Time for What Matters Most

Many women feel overwhelmed. They’re busy from morning until night yet still don’t seem to have enough time for important things like devotions, exercise, friendships, sleep, or quality time with their families.

My wife, Jean, did a great job of keeping our family and household in order during our parenting years. But some days the strain she was under was tough. Like the evening I came home from work and Jean met me at the door.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, marriage, parenting December 19, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Praying for Your Marriage Is Essential

Prayer is one of the most beneficial things you can do for your marriage.

You’ve probably heard that advice and believe it. But prayer still falls by the wayside when life gets busy and responsibilities demand your time and attention.

On our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Praying for Your Marriage Is Essential,” our guest, Jodie Berndt, is answering how to incorporate prayer into your marriage in a way that not only helps you grow closer to your spouse but deepens your relationship in Christ.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage December 14, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How to Stay Crazy in Love with Your Spouse

Most couples are madly in love on their wedding day. They’re infatuated, passionate, and convinced they’ll always feel this way.

Over time, however, the sizzle begins to fizzle. There’s the first big argument, then little annoyances creep into the relationship, and the couple soon gets caught up in the daily grind of life. Before long, one spouse or the other begins to wonder, “Is this all there is to our marriage? Where did our love go?”

On our Focus on the Family Broadcast “How to Stay Crazy in Love with Your Spouse,” my colleagues Greg and Erin Smalley are with us to inspire couples to build a lifelong, loving relationship utilizing “love secrets”:

True love commits

True love seeks God

True love fights for peace

True love honors

True love needs time to grow

True love embraces

True love endures

We’re discussing what true love looks like and how married couples can express that love to each other in meaningful and godly ways throughout their lifetime.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, marriage December 4, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Staying True to Your Marriage

The tingles can get you married. They can also get you divorced.

Dr. Gary Chapman has heard a lot of couples in premarital counseling talk about “the tingles” – that emotional flutter we feel when we’re attracted to each other.

“The tingles” play an important role in forming romantic relationships. They turn a simple hello into a lunch date, and before long the couple is so inseparable they decide to get married.

But the tingles fade.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, marriage November 29, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Somehow Form a Family

In 1969, The Brady Bunch became the first sitcom in television history to depict what was then a new trend in America: a blended family. Mike and Carol Brady, who both had three children from previous relationships, strived hard each week to – as the theme song said – “somehow form a family.” Most of the problems they faced were humorous and easy to resolve in 30 minutes.

Unfortunately, things are rarely that simple in real life.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, marriage November 20, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Blending Two Lives into One Flesh

Author Kari Trent Stageberg – daughter of psychologist and author Dr. John Trent – and her husband, Joey, coach couples toward greater health and connection.

They say there’s a moment in every marriage that permanently changes the relationship. It’s called the “merge moment.” It occurs when husbands and wives realize their differences have the potential to drive them apart.

“Merge moments” are like two rushing rivers crashing into one another. They can be noisy, messy, and unpredictable.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, marriage November 14, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Look-Alike Couples

I’ve heard that if couples are married long enough, they start to look like one another. I’m not sure if that’s true, but I think couples do often look like the other couples they hang out with.

It may feel more comfortable to be friends with someone who’s just like you, but you’re depriving your marriage of a great chance to grow. Maybe the couple you spend the most time with is also newly married, or is raising teenagers, or is retired.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, marriage November 8, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Conviction

It’s easy to overlook the importance of small compromises. They seem so insignificant. But small compromises eventually turn into big compromises that take us further than we want to go and cost us more than we ever thought possible.

That dark reality is captured in a movie from the early 1960s called Judgment at Nuremberg. The film dramatically portrays the military tribunal that prosecuted Nazi leaders accused of crimes against humanity during World War II.

Spencer Tracy plays Judge Dan Haywood, who leads the trial.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage November 6, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Your Marriage Can Win the Battle Against Pornography

Did you know:

55% of married Christian men look at porn monthly.

1 in 10 view porn daily.

71% of those who view 7+ hours of porn weekly report some kind of sexual dysfunction.

More than half (56%) of divorce cases involve a spouse having an obsession with pornographic websites.

Mark and Rosie Makinney’s family was nearly destroyed by the poison of pornography. They now help other couples discover the good news that God can heal, restore, and redeem anyone who turns to Him for help.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, marriage November 1, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

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