If you accidentally married, or are going to marry someone who is an unbeliever, or who says they are a believer, but behaves differently, you cannot make them believe like you after marriage. You cannot plead, coax, bribe, yell, intimidate, or push your spouse into going to church, reading the bible, or accepting Jesus for their life. The more you push, the more they pull away.
Shine Your Light: Don’t Force Unbelievers Read More »
Are you having less sex with your spouse or stopped having sex with your spouse because you are looking at pornography? Are unhealthy emotions overtaking your thoughts and controlling the outcome of your actions? Have you tried to quit looking at porn but can’t?
If you answered yes to any one of these then you are addicted. Anytime we are addicted to something it means we are under its control and have become a slave to it. Does being addicted to porn mean you are a bad person? Not necessarily.
Are You A Slave To Sexual Sins? Read More »
Ask Angie: My heart aches. I’ve been married 16 years. We have 6 children. My husband got out of rehab for alcoholism, but also worked on his sex addiction. I feel as though I can work through the alcohol part but the trust with the sex addition is not happening. I have been supporting my family for over 2 months with daycare I have in my home. Questions of leaving my husband are a daily struggle. My church has helped with what they can with my bills while he was away. Where do we all go from here?
Healing From Addiction: Where Does Our Marriage Go from Here? Read More »
Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves. ~Carl Jung
He saw me glaring at him.
As he walked slowly and deliberately to his car in the handicapped-reserved space beside mine, I did everything possible to silently display my contempt. He obviously didn’t need that spot. I wanted to make sure he knew that I knew and that I disapproved.
I’m not sure why I felt the need to be the parking space police that morning. I was having a particularly hard time getting my chair situated beside my car, and I guess I wanted to vent my frustration on someone else.
It’s Awfully Easy to be Judgmental Read More »
Ask Angie: We have been married only 4 months and my husband engages in bash sessions with his family, friends, and grown boys about me and all the details of the marriage we are trying to build. How can I feel safe, loved, and protected in this? We are going to counseling…I just don’t think he is willing to see this behavior as abnormal. I think it is just what his family does. Negative and tearing us down at every turn.
Marriage Guidance: If any of your friends, family and grown boys have any sense they will surely see right through your husbands criticism. We should never allow what others say about us control our own behavior, even if it is from our loved ones. Many times it is our loved ones that will be the most disagreeable.
Dealing with an Offensive Husband Read More »
Why is it the people who need the most help… won’t take it? Norman Maclean (A River Runs Through It)
Who’s that person in your life who needs to change?
Perhaps a boss bullies and controls or fosters chaos through indecisiveness. Maybe a coworker refuses to communicate or a friend follows a self-destructive path. Possibly a child breaks your heart with obviously bad decisions or a spouse drifts silently away.
How To Change Another Person Read More »
Forgiveness is giving up the possibility of a better past.
Is there someone you just can’t seem to forgive?
For some reason, forgiveness is on my mind lately. I’ve written a couple of posts (The Real Power Of Forgiveness and Forgiveness isn’t …) but it’s still poking at me. After some conversation with God (prayer) I realized that there’s one person I cannot quite seem to forgive.
Toughest Forgiveness Read More »
Proverbs 6:16-19 NRSV
There are six things that the Lord hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that hurry to run to evil,
a lying witness who testifies falsely,
and one who sows discord in a family.
It’s interesting that Solomon begins with “there are six things . . . seven . . .” Matthew Henry notes, of this beginning:
“and the last of them (which, being the seventh, seems especially to be intended, because he says they are six, yea, seven) is part of his character, that he sows discord.”
Discord in Relationships Read More »
Galatians 5:16-21 NRSV
Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Do You Choose Anger or Trust? Read More »
To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you. Lewis Smedes
I wrote an article advancing a revolutionary notion: Forgiveness isn’t… easy.
No kidding.
We all struggle to forgive when we’ve been hurt. That’s sort of obvious.
So here’s a question: If it’s so hard, why bother? Why go to all the trouble of forgiving?
Why not get revenge? Why shouldn’t I make that other person suffer? Why just let it go and let him get away with it?
The Real Power Of Forgiveness Read More »
