Marriage

How Your Marriage Affects Your Parenting

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how marriage affects parenting
Ephesians 5:31-32

As soon as my son was born, I wanted nothing else than to be a great dad. As all parents quickly realize, the pressure to raise our kids to the best of our ability can be immense. No one has kids with the hope of ruining them. We want them to grow up happy, healthy, and totally in love with Christ.

And so as new parents, my wife I made the subtle mistake most new parents make – we began to prioritize our parenting over our marriage. This seems like a natural, loving thing to do when you have kids. Ironically, however, as we realized the hard way, when we placed our parenting over our marriage, our parenting and our marriage both suffered.

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Gomer, Hosea, & What They Show Us About Our Relationship With Christ

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Gomer, Hosea, Christ, churchWhen Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. But the more they were called, the more they went away from me.-Hosea 11:1,2

I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them.-Hosea 14:4

Christ is like Hosea and we are like Gomer. God told Hosea to marry a prostitute, Gomer. Hosea gave her sons, provided for her, and was the only man in her life who sought to love her and not selfishly take from her. He was the best man she ever knew.

And yet despite all of this, she entered back into a life of prostitution. Doesn’t something inside of you want to scream when you read this?

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Why Did God Create Us?

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Why did God create us
1 John 3:1

Why did God create us?

Well of course anytime you ask a question that starts with, “Why does God . . . ?” you can always answer it with the right theological answer, “For his glory.” Everything God does, he always does for his glory.

But how did creating humans bring God glory? To answer that, we need to remember what the glory of God really is. In short, one basic definition of the glory of God is when the invisible qualities of God are made visible or knowable.

With this definition, it’s not hard to connect the dots: If God is glorified through making his qualities visible, he would then glorify himself by making beings in his image. Because we bear God’s image (Genesis 1:27), we thus glorify God (Isaiah 43:7). Sin has marred this image, and thus the more we sin the more we “fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The more we are sanctified and remade into the image of his Son, the more we glorify God as he originally intended (Romans 8:29-30).

But I’ve talked about all that before. Let’s take this a step further. How else did creating humans reveal God?

God revealed his love and fullness through creating humans just as a healthy marriage reveals its love and fullness through producing children. Let’s dig deeper into this idea.

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What Does the Bible Say About Betrayal?

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What does the Bible say about betrayal
John 12:3-6, Matthew 26:14, 16, Matthew 27:1-10

What does the Bible say about betrayal? What are some biblical examples of betrayal? And how can we avoid becoming a betrayer?

When answering questions like these, the name Judas is unavoidable. Judas will be forever remembered as “the betrayer.” So here are 3 biblical lessons we can learn from Judas that will help us be faithful disciples. If we want to avoid betrayal with God, in our marriages, and in all of our relationships, the Bible gives us the truth we need.

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Who Should We Serve First? Spouse, Kids, Church, Strangers?

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who should we serve
Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.-Luke 12:48

In a broken world, there are endless needs. So how do we decide who to support, who to serve, who to lead, and who to give our time and resources to?

There is no hard and fast rule about such things in the Bible. We are told to take care of our families (1 Timothy 5:8), we are told to help support other Christians (Romans 12:13), and we are also told to show hospitality to strangers (Hebrews 13:2). But to what degree should we offer the help since the needs of the world can be endless?

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Are You Dating or Married to God?

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married to God
Isaiah 62:5, Mark 10:9

The difference between teen romance and a deeply committed marriage is persevering faithfulness. When you date, you are gauging whether or not you want to remain with that person. When you get married, your only thought is to remain, love, and be faithful no matter what happens. Likewise, to be Christian, you must move past the dating season and fully commit to your marriage with God.

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How to Forgive Someone Who Has Hurt You Deeply

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how to forgive someone who has deeply hurt you bible christian
(Matthew 18:21-35)

How do you forgive someone who has hurt you deeply? Sadly this is a question every human will have to answer if they hope to keep their heart healthy.

If you have close friends, relatives you love, a spouse, children, or any other significant relationship, the possibility for hurt will never leave and thus forgiveness will always be deeply needed.

Therefore, the first step in forgiving someone who has hurt you deeply is to prepare in advance before the hurt even happens.

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What Does the Bible Say About Unmet Expectations?

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What does the Bible say about unmet expectations
1 Kings 8:17-19

Expectations and desires are such a beautiful and yet dangerous part of life. To have a dream, let alone seeing it fulfilled, creates a feeling in your heart that is essential for a meaningful life. To have desires is to have a heart that is alive. If you feel nothing, hope for nothing, never have a dream, it probably means you have lost your heart and passion for life. But how do we maintain joy when we have unmet expectations, for as the Bible says in Proverbs 13:12, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.”

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