marriage Archives

You Can Learn This From the Bible’s Couples

When you walked down the aisle, what was your vision for you and your spouse? Did you want a “nice” marriage? A “friendly” marriage? A “we get along” marriage?

Probably not.

Most couples are searching for intimacy, connection, romance, and excitement. But years into their marriage, many husbands and wives are bored. Life has settled into a routine – a rut, really – and they’re not connecting like they once did.

If you’ve reached that place in your marriage, you might be thinking, “This isn’t what I had in mind.”

Well, that’s not what the Bible says God has in mind for you, either.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, husband, marriage, wife March 19, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

A Stunning Violation in San Francisco

A news roundup on the issues that matter most.

– The Wall St. Journal’s “A Fight to Keep Catholic Schools Catholic” explains how California lawmakers are trying to prevent San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone from hiring faculty that would advance Catholic teaching in area high schools.

Just imagine: Catholic schools teaching Catholic doctrine? The effort to coerce school officials into violating their convictions is a stunning assault on a religious school’s constitutional freedom.

– Planet Fitness Revokes Woman’s Membership After She Complained About Transgender Person.

Topics: Current Events Tags: marriage, news, religious liberty, technology March 9, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Is It Ever Too Late to Save a Marriage?

Naturally, with a name like “Focus on the Family,” our organization places a strong emphasis on building thriving marriages. An “ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” as they say. The best course of action is always to take steps to head off problems before they start.

But for many couples, helpful suggestions and well-meaning nudges to “be proactive” are already too late. The relationship has dried up. One or both spouses feel like the love is gone.

Topics: Focus Events Tags: broadcast, marriage, promos March 6, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

This New App Will Help Engaged Couples

Do you know someone planning to get married?

Our new “Engaged! Marriage Preparation for Couples” app is designed to help men and women get ready for their new lives together as husband and wife.

Divided into 15 topics, the app provides introductory as well as in-depth Christian teaching and articles, and includes more than 16 hours of audio and video content designed for couples to review and discuss together.

Research shows that couples who devote time to premarital counselling are both happier in the short-term and more likely to avoid divorce, long-term.

Topics: Focus Events Tags: faith, marriage, promos, relationships February 20, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

This Valentine’s Day, Go Beyond “I Love You”

It’s a little sad how even the most heartfelt phrases can sometimes become habit.

“I love you.”

These are three meaningful words that every husband and wife should say to each other, often.

And yet, sometimes even this beautiful expression can lose some of its luster.

That’s why I appreciated the heart behind this video: a husband and wife, together for 56 years, were asked to describe what they felt for each other … but with one catch.

Topics: Current Events Tags: marriage, relationships February 13, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Why Focus is Reviewing “Fifty Shades”

The movie “Fifty Shades of Grey” premieres this weekend. It’s ironic the film is being marketed as a “love” story, because it’s anything but.

Real men don’t denigrate, exploit and abuse women.

After much soul searching, Focus on the Family’s media discernment arm, Plugged In, decided to review this film. Paul Asay explains why in a post on the Plugged In Blog. Here’s some of what he had to say:

Religion News Service reports that advance tickets are selling particularly briskly in “the Bible Belt and the Midwest,” statistically the two most heavily churched parts of the country…

I don’t believe our primary mission at Plugged In is to say nice things about nice movies: It’s to shine that light in a sometimes murky world.

Topics: Current Events Tags: entertainment, marriage, pop culture, sex February 13, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How to Take Your Marriage from Selfish to Magnificent

Do you think of your marriage as a “magnificent obsession”?

Hopefully, you’re on the journey toward seeing your relationship in that light. But each of us – at different times in different ways – allows self-interest to tarnish our marriage’s potential.

Selfishness can creep into a relationship from the moment a man and a woman meet, even when they don’t mean for it to. In the initial months of dating, couples pursue a relationship because they like the way they feel when they’re together.

Topics: Focus Events Tags: broadcast, faith, marriage February 12, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

This Unromantic Notion Will Give Your Marriage a Boost

What would you say if I suggested that on this Valentine’s Day, you celebrate your “average” marriage?

It doesn’t sound too romantic, does it?

The suggestion certainly goes against the Hollywood notion of love, with its exaggerated portrayals of couples blissfully, breathlessly enraptured with each other.

But let’s get real here.

Real life isn’t like a jewelry ad in a magazine where everything looks picture-perfect. It’s not as exciting as the song on the radio praising the thrill of a brand-new relationship.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage February 11, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Why Are These Christian Women Reading Porn?

One of our nation’s leading Christian publishers conducted a survey asking respondents to name the most influential book they had read in the past year. A startling number of women – Christian women – said “Fifty Shades of Grey” was their favorite book of the year.

Why is that so noteworthy?

Because the “Fifty Shades of Grey” books are a written form of pornography, plain and simple. It’s a book series that’s become nothing short of a cultural phenomenon, having sold more than 100 million copies in just a few short years.

Topics: Current Events Tags: broadcast, entertainment, intimacy, marriage, sex February 4, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

This Pastor Chose Against Acting on His Same-Sex Attractions

Allan Edwards is a pastor with the Presbyterian Church in America. He’s also married to Leeanne Edwards and the couple is expecting their first child in July.

Allan has also admitted to struggling with same-sex attraction.

In fact, he recently shared his story with National Public Radio. In the midst of the conversation, Allan said the reason he’s never acted on the attraction is because he believes homosexuality is a sin.

Some have suggested that Allan is denying his true identity and that he and his wife couldn’t possibly be happy.

Topics: Current Events Tags: church, faith, homosexuality, marriage, news February 3, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura