A marriage is a wonderful, powerful, and beautiful relationship!  Strangely enough, it is also a rather fragile one.  It seems that the attack on the institution of marriage is greater than it has ever been.  Hollywood makes millions by ridiculing marriages and glorifying everything from pre-marital sexual relations to divorce to adultery.  The gay agenda blatantly opposes traditional marriage in favor of everything and anything that is anti-Christian.  Our public schools promote “safe-sex” and “any sex” while downplaying the importance of the Biblical family (a husband, a wife, and children).  Even our churches and Christian schools and colleges seem to have unknowingly joined the bandwagon against marriage by downplaying the nuclear family (a husband who leads and loves and provides for his family; a wife who loves, submits, and cares for the home; and children who are wanted, disciplined, trained, and prepared for marriage themselves).  We have failed to teach our sons to work, thus failing to prepare them to be the primary providers for their family.  We have encouraged our daughters to be career minded and independent, thus failing to prepare them to care for their husband, children, and home.  Obviously, we need help.  

Some years ago I did a revival campaign in North Central Alabama.  The area was conservative, traditional, and part of the Bible belt! One evening, a local public school teacher shared with me that in a recent survey in their rural high school of several  hundreds of students, 87% of the students reported that their parents were divorced or unmarried.  Only 13% of the students experience anything close to God’s plan for the home and the family. Do you find that shocking?  Sad?  Unbelievable?  I do.

What can we do to change?  To improve?  To protect our marriages and our family?  May I offer you Seven Days to a Better Marriage?  Over the next seven days, I will examine 6 subjects that are found in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.  Apparently, they too were living in a generation that struggled in this area.  Over the next week, let’s take the lessons that Paul gave to them and apply them to our lives.  I will offer you one each day. Are you ready?  I hope so!  

You can get started by reading Ephesians 5:15-33.  In fact, I hope you will read it every day for the next week.  Read it prayerfully.  Answer the questions I will include in my posts. Talk about it with your spouse.  I am praying that God will use these truths to help you have a better marriage!

As always, thanks for reading.

Your sincere friend,

Dave Young