More for Your Marriage

A couple of days ago I posted the first 7 of 15 duties of parents according to J.C. Ryle in the book The Duties of Parents  which was originally written in 1888. If you didn't get to see the first post, you should definitely go back and read it as well! Here are numbers 8-15... Proverbs 22:6, Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it." We may  not see the result of our training, but we can be sure that God keeps His promises always. 8. Train them to a habit of faith...in you and the Lord. We should train our children to believe what we say. We want them to be confident in our judgement and respect our decisions as better than their own. We need to teach them that when we say something is bad for them, it IS bad. Or when we say something is good for them, it IS good for them. They HAVE to trust us and know that there is a good reason for everything we say to them, even if they don't understand it. It is absurd to thin...

Ok so I know that this post is not SPECIFICALLY about marriage, but our children and how we handle them have a huge impact on our marriage and family. This mission we have as parents is something that we ALL struggle with throughout our children's lives at some time or another. Some of us more than others. It is our responsibility to teach them, love them, and take care of them during their time on this earth. It's a LARGE charge to have someone's life in your hands...so we have to make sure that we make the best of the time we are given with them. I recently read this book called The Duties of Parents  by J.C. Ryle. The book was originally written in 1888, so the language is a bit challenging to understand...but it is definitely worth sharing. I'm going to summarize it the best I can...but if you would like to buy it, you can get it  HERE  on Amazon. Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it....

Communication is KEY in a marriage. We all struggle with communicating in the RIGHT way when we are angry. We are going to look at some verses in Ephesians 4 that tell us exactly how to communicate with our spouse...or anyone else for that matter. The outline was developed by NANC (National Association of Nouthetic Counselors) with added commentary by me:) Ephesians 4:25-32 says: "Since you put away lying, Speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, because we are all members of one another. Be angry and do not sin. Don't let the sun go down on your anger, and don't give the Devil an opportunity. The thief must no long steal. Instead, he must do honest work with his own hands, so that he has something to share with anyone in need. No rotten talk should come from your mouth, but only what is good for the building up of someone in need, in order to give grace to those who hear. And don't grieve the Holy Spirit, who sealed you for the day of redemption. All bitterness, a...

Ok wives, it's our turn to see what God has to say about our role in our marriage. Yesterday we looked at what God expects our husbands to do, so today we are going to look into what He expects from us. These key factors can be marriage-changing if we follow God's plan:) Here we go! These notes were adapted from Faith Biblical Counseling Ministries. You can access the original notes  here. Three words that describe the Wife's role: 1. Submission: Many people hate this word BUT that's because our world twists it way out of context. Here are some WRONG ideas about submission: A. The wife is inferior-  1 Peter 3:7--"Husbands in the same way, live with your wives with understanding of their weaker nature yet showing them honor as co-heirs of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered." Galations 3:28--"There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." SO, wives, submission DOES NOT mea...

While going through Biblical counseling training, the roles of husbands and wives was one of the most interesting things that I learned. It opened my eyes to ways that I was wrong, and ways I could improve the way I fulfill my role as a wife. Today we are going to look at the husband's role...tomorrow we will look at the wife's role. We are doing the husband's first because he is the HEAD of the HOUSEHOLD. It's not easy, and God does NOT take it lightly. HUSBANDS DON'T GIVE UP ON ME...TOMORROW IS THE WIFE'S TURN:) The following notes were adapted from the Faith Biblical Counseling Ministry. You can access the original ones by clicking  here . It goes into much more depth than I will today. So husbands, you should check it out. Let's talk about 3 words that describe the husband's role in marriage: 1. The husband should be a LEARNER- 1 Peter 3:7 says, "You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone...

Yesterday we looked at the first part of 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8. Today we will continue to examine the rest of this passage to see how God expects us to show love to others... 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8 says..."Love is patient; love is kind. Love does not envy; does not boast; is not proud (conceited); does not act improperly (dishonor others); is not selfish; is not easily angered; it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes,, always perseveres. Love never fails. (HCSB & NIV)" Love is NOT SELFISH:  James 3:16 says,.."For where envy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every kind of evil. (HCSB)" Satan and this world try to tell us that we are #1...but God says something different. If you think about it, most arguments and fights begin because someone is being selfish and putting his/her feelings or desires before someone else's. When we argue with our sp...

This will be a 2-PART entry...I will do part of it today, and the other half tomorrow...so come back tomorrow and finish it! This one is for EVERYONE...married or single, child or adult, everyone can use this to live the life that God has called us to live as Christians. Romans 13: 9-10 says..."and if there is any other commandment--all are summed up by this: Love your neighbor as yourself.  Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Love therefore, is the fulfillment of the law. " So all of our commandments are summed up with one sentence...LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF! Who is your neighbor? Everyone...spouses, children, family, friends, coworkers, strangers, enemies, people we have a hard time liking or respecting, people we don't agree with... EVERYONE. For those of us who are married, it seems that our family (spouses and children) get the short end of the stick when it comes to treating them lovingly. I don't mean that we don't ever do right by them...I just...

Can anyone relate????... The toilet paper MUST hang OVER NOT UNDER! Why must you squeeze the toothpaste in the MIDDLE of the tube EVERY TIME??? Really?!? You just threw those dirty clothes on the floor A FOOT AWAY from the laundry basket?!? Is our water faucet broken? Are we out of rags? Is the dishwasher not working? Now NONE of these pictures are actually from my house...so don't go tell my hubby I ratted him out...HEHEHE.  So since this is an issue that can drive many couples to a down right knock down-drag out...Let's see what God says about how to handle ourselves, even when people are jumping on our LAST NERVE!  Philippians 2:14-15 says..."Do everything without grumbling and arguing , so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world. (HCSB-emphasis mine)"  I have a friend who told a story about her husband leaving his clothes on t...

If you haven't read Guard Your Heart Part 1, you may want to go back and read that first because this post is a continuation of the first post.  Philippians 4: 8 says..."   Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (NIV)" If the Lord expects us to think on things that are TRUE, NOBLE, RIGHT, PURE, LOVELY, ADMIRAL, EXCELLENT, and PRAISEWORTHY, we must be careful what we put in our head/heart. 1. Be careful what you hear :  This one is a hard one for someone who likes ALL kinds of music. I have to be honest and say that when I was a teenager, I didn't listen to the BEST music out there. I can't say that if Jesus would have looked through my CD collection, I would have been proud. It would have been quite the contrary. I learned at some point in my life that music touches people. It moves peopl...

Have you ever felt like God was telling you to do SOMETHING but wasn’t quite sure WHAT??? For two nights this week I have laid awake in bed with ideas and scripture running through my head. The first night I prayed for God to show me what He wanted me to do and fell asleep. Tonight…I’m wide awake, and the same ideas are running through my head again…So here goes…I guess I'm starting a BLOG??? A new experience for me... I know you have probably heard the saying that we go through trials in life so we can one day help others through the same trials… Well, as many of you probably know, I have been divorced and remarried. Since this time in my life, I have felt a huge burden for people who are going through rough times in their marriages.  The devil is on the prowl and it is his mission to destroy as many families as possible while we are still here on this earth. I can PROMISE you that I NEVER thought I would be one of “those” people who was divorced and remarried with a blended ...