Discovering numerous files on marriage, including on such books as “His Needs, Her Needs” (1986) and “Men are from Mars, Women Are from Venus” (1992) I had to laugh and feel a bit embarrassed, about teaching so much on a topic I know now I knew so little.
Men and women in marriage are not as different as we thought! Last Sunday I did some audience response system polling in connection with my message on the marriage relationship out of1 Peter 3:1-7. While a few of results were somewhat predictable, we had several major men/women stereotypes blown out of the water.
One thing that was not surprising is that this passage of scripture is a very challenging one. Because six of the seven verses deal with women and the “S” word (submission) we were not surprised to find 48% of the women admitting to having “difficulty with this passage of Scripture.” But there were also 39% of the men who agreed with them. You’ll have to listen to the message “Keeping I do from becoming I don’t” online at www.Bridgewoodcc.org and judge for yourself how well I addressed these difficulties.
Here then are the three valuable lessons learned from our polling:
This is the fifth and final installment of Reflections & Lessons from 40 Years of Marriage. Today I am focusing on two aspects of the marriage relationship, trust and the enemies of marriage, that if not properly handled can end up being deal breakers. Check out the previous four posts for the first eight points.
This is the fourth installment of Reflections & Lessons from 40 Years of Marriage. Today I am focusing on the no-brainer aspects of communication in marriage. They should go without saying, but it is often the disregard of these simple nuances that end up being “the little foxes that spoil the vines.” (Song of Solomon 2:15) Check out the previous three days for the first six points.
This is the third installment of Reflections & Lessons from 40 Years of Marriage. Here are some more survival principles learned from the wilderness of marriage. Check out the previous two days for the first four points. Affirm one another – Look for the good in one another and communicate what you see. Lead by example. Take the initiative to demonstrate the love of Jesus in your marriage. Be Christ to your spouse.
