How God Restored My Marriage
Basically, we realized that the box of relational tools we’d been handed by our parents and families was a box of broken tools. We were both the recipients of a legacy of multiple broken marriages and family breakdown.
Basically, we realized that the box of relational tools we’d been handed by our parents and families was a box of broken tools. We were both the recipients of a legacy of multiple broken marriages and family breakdown.
“Sex is not a social construct, it’s the way God has decided to reveal himself” Chris Cruz, Bethel Church’s Young Adult Pastor shares his message on the theology of sex. This message is a mix of his own personal revelation from the Lord partnered with biblical understanding about the difference between human understanding vs God’s real intentions for sex. From intimacy, to conversation, to protection, to emotions, sex is sacred and telling a story that is all put together to be worship unto Him.
Before you’re married it’s easy to see marriage as the grande finale. It’s the thing we dream of and live for. It’s the force propelling us forward into this destination we call life. And then it finally comes! Now what?
For many partners, finding out their significant other has secretly watched porn can feel just they discovered they’ve been cheated on. For some other partners, they may feel upset but not betrayed. And still, for others, they may not be bothered at all by their partner’s porn habit.
Many marriages and relationships are suffering right now due to the prolonged effects of this pandemic. Patience is wearing thin and ironically, even though we are spending considerably more time together than ever before, our loved ones can still experience surmounting loneliness.
Once punishment is off the table, however, how do we move forward? First, we need to establish that both people in the relationship have the goal of restoration and are ready to do the challenging work of restoring connection and rebuilding trust. If the offending party is not repentant, or the injured party is not willing to forgive, they won’t be able to move toward each other.
Cole and Caitlin Zick invite us into a very raw and authentic take of their stories. What would it look like if parents healthily and intentionally talked about sex where they understand God’s full design for sexuality and that He said YES, not no? They’ll talk about helpful tools for taking an inventory on the impact your childhood had on your current perspective of relationship and sexuality. In that, the depth of your vulnerability will determine the completeness of your healing and wholeness in your marriage.
As stress happens in your brain, it will turn off the relational part of your brain and send it into problem-solving mode. You and your husband may have different ways of solving the problem but because your brain has “turned off” the relational mode, it’s difficult to appreciate his strategy. You both just want the problem to stop! Whatever the challenge, remember that relational problems need relational solutions. Wait, pray, and talk through things once you are in a good emotional state and can see your husband as a resource and a teammate.
When someone is happily married, society has taught us to just give it time. Someone will fall out of love. Someone will screw up. Someone will decide marriage no longer suits them. Just give it time. And when we meet a couple who has been married for quite some time and they are still happily in love, we treat them like an anomaly- a unicorn of romance that must be documented and studied closely. This is the world we live in.
There are many reasons why people really aren’t ready to commit to covenant. Perhaps you are immature, or started late in the game of growing in personal responsibility?In this situation, the best thing you can do is to ready yourself: discover who you are in God, learn responsibility, get a mentor, and find someone who can help you prepare for the responsibility and joy of marriage.
The reality is, at some point in our marriage we may find ourselves "noticing someone other than our spouse". First, let me say... there is NO SHAME. Just because you noticed an attractive human being does not make you unfaithful or "unhappily married". God created some seriously beautiful people in this world and I am impressed with His artistry.
Get some sweet smelling oil or lotion, and give each other back rubs, foot rubs, or any kind of rubs you’re in the mood for! If you’ve never done this before, it might help to google a couple how-to’s on the best way to give a good massage.But at the end of the day, almost any kind of rub is a good rub. So enjoy feeling close through the gift of touch.