Marriage After God

By Aaron Smith & Jennifer SmithSociety & Culture Religion & Spirituality Christianity Relationships

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Marriage After God episodes

November 19, 2025 Is Marriage Meant to Make You Holy? | Marriage Devotional Week 7
How God uses marriage to refine us like gold, and why your spouse often becomes a mirror for your sin
About This Episode
In this devotional, we talk about God's holiness, the process of Him refining us, and how marriage provides the context for that sanctification to continue. Difficult seasons reveal what's hidden beneath the surface, the way fire brings impurities in gold to the top and drought drives roots deeper. We share how our spouse often becomes a reflection of the sin in our own lives, how the Holy Spirit is faithful to scrape away what doesn't belong, and what God did in us during our compressed early years as missionaries in Zambia. We are better today than we were years ago, quicker to forgive and quicker to reconcile, and our hope is that this episode encourages you to embrace God's refining work instead of running from it.
About Aaron & Jennifer Smith
Aaron and Jennifer Smith are the founders of Marriage After God and authors of Husband After God, Wife After God, and Marriage After God. Married since 2007 and raising six children in Bend, Oregon, they started Husband Revolution and Unveiled Wife to share what God was teaching them, not from a place of having it figured out, but as fellow travelers pointing couples back to Jesus.
In This Episode
What sanctification means — being set apart as holy, at salvation and over a lifetime
Roots that grow deeper — how wind and drought strengthen what is underground
Refined like gold — how trials bring impurities to the surface
Your spouse as a mirror — what Gary Thomas's Sacred Marriage says about exposing our sin
Minimizing our sin, maximizing theirs — the self-righteousness trap
Missionaries in a tent in Zambia — how a hard early season compressed our growth
Embracing refinement — why running from it keeps a marriage from maturing
Quicker to forgive — how the Holy Spirit has deepened our love over the years
Scripture Referenced
Colossians 2:6-7 — rooted and built up in Christ
Romans 10:9 — confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord
1 Peter 1:7 — the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold
Proverbs 17:3 — the crucible is for silver, the furnace is for gold, and the Lord tests hearts
Romans 6:22 — the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life
Exodus 19:8 — all that the Lord has spoken we will do
Resources from This Episode
Join in on our devotional series and get your copies of Husband After God by Aaron Smith (also in our shop) and Wife After God by Jennifer Smith (also in our shop)
Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas
Marriage After God by Aaron & Jennifer Smith (also in our shop)
Shop Marriage After God
Full show notes and blog post
Connect with Marriage After God
Website: marriageaftergod.com
Shop books, devotionals, and prayer journals: shop.marriageaftergod.com
Follow Marriage After God: Instagram · Facebook · YouTube · TikTok
Follow Aaron and Jennifer: Husband Revolution · Unveiled Wife
Want to go deeper? Become a patron and help us keep creating resources for marriages that pursue God together.
If this conversation encouraged you, please share it with a couple you love, and subscribe wherever you listen.
As an Amazon Associate, Marriage After God earns from qualifying purchases.
Smith Family Resources, Inc © 2026
42 min
November 12, 2025 The Power of Reconciliation in Marriage | Marriage Devotional Week 6
Forgiveness takes one person, reconciliation takes two: why couples should race to be first to repent
About This Episode
Sin creates distance in every relationship, and marriage is no exception. In this devotional, we explore the meaning and power of reconciliation, starting with three definitions of the word and how the gospel fulfills each one. We talk about the difference between forgiveness, which one person can offer, and reconciliation, which takes two people and real repentance, and why forgiveness alone doesn't always restore closeness. Through the parable of the unforgiving servant, we remember how much we have been forgiven, and we encourage couples to be ambassadors of reconciliation in their own homes: to communicate honestly, give rebuilding trust the time it needs, and race each other to be the first to repent.
About Aaron & Jennifer Smith
Aaron and Jennifer Smith are the founders of Marriage After God and authors of Husband After God, Wife After God, and Marriage After God. Married since 2007 and raising six children in Bend, Oregon, they started Husband Revolution and Unveiled Wife to share what God was teaching them, not from a place of having it figured out, but as fellow travelers pointing couples back to Jesus.
In This Episode
What reconciliation means — restoring a relationship, reconciling opposing views and cancelling a debt
The gospel of reconciliation — how Christ fulfills all three
How sin creates distance — and why it must be addressed with humility and truth
Forgiveness vs. reconciliation — one person can forgive, but reconciliation takes two
Repentance — the step that makes restoration possible
The unforgiving servant — what Matthew 18 teaches about our unpayable debt
Ambassadors of reconciliation — showing the power of Christ in our marriages
Race to repent — why couples should compete to apologize first
Scripture Referenced
Romans 5:10 — reconciled to God by the death of His Son
1 Corinthians 15:47-49 — the man of dust and the man of heaven
Colossians 2:13-14 — the record of debt cancelled and nailed to the cross
Romans 5:18-19 — by one man's obedience the many will be made righteous
2 Corinthians 5:17-20 — the ministry of reconciliation; we are ambassadors for Christ
Matthew 18 — the parable of the unforgiving servant
Acts 8:22 — repent and pray to the Lord
Colossians 3:13 — as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive
Matthew 5:24 — first be reconciled to your brother
Resources from This Episode
Join in on our devotional series and get your copies of Husband After God by Aaron Smith (also in our shop) and Wife After God by Jennifer Smith (also in our shop)
Marriage After God by Aaron & Jennifer Smith (also in our shop)
The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
Shop Marriage After God
Full show notes and blog post
Connect with Marriage After God
Website: marriageaftergod.com
Shop books, devotionals, and prayer journals: shop.marriageaftergod.com
Follow Marriage After God: Instagram · Facebook · YouTube · TikTok
Follow Aaron and Jennifer: Husband Revolution · Unveiled Wife
Want to go deeper? Become a patron and help us keep creating resources for marriages that pursue God together.
If this conversation encouraged you, please share it with a couple you love, and subscribe wherever you listen.
As an Amazon Associate, Marriage After God earns from qualifying purchases.
Smith Family Resources, Inc © 2026
51 min
November 05, 2025 Sacrificial Love in Marriage | Marriage Devotional Week 5
The Gethsemane prayer that turned our struggling marriage around, and why sacrificial love always goes first
About This Episode
To understand sacrificial love, there is really only one place to look: the person of Jesus. In this devotional, we walk through the crucifixion and Jesus' prayer in the garden of Gethsemane and talk about how His selfless, patient, enduring love is the model for marriage. We share a turning point from the early, hardest years of our marriage, when God asked Aaron during a church service whether Jennifer had ever done anything worse to him than he had done to Jesus. We talk about why sacrificial love goes first instead of waiting to be earned, how the Holy Spirit empowers couples to love beyond themselves, and how confession and prayer have transformed us over nearly 19 years of marriage.
About Aaron & Jennifer Smith
Aaron and Jennifer Smith are the founders of Marriage After God and authors of Husband After God, Wife After God, and Marriage After God. Married since 2007 and raising six children in Bend, Oregon, they started Husband Revolution and Unveiled Wife to share what God was teaching them, not from a place of having it figured out, but as fellow travelers pointing couples back to Jesus.
In This Episode
The cross as our model — why sacrificial love starts with what Christ did for us
Gethsemane — praying not my will but yours when you want the cup removed
Our turning point — the church service where God convicted Aaron to love like Christ
Love that goes first — initiating love without waiting for your spouse to earn it
Take up your cross daily — dying to self in the everyday moments of marriage
Abiding in Christ — how the fruit of the Spirit makes sacrificial love possible
Confession and prayer — how God has transformed our communication and our hearts over the years
Scripture Referenced
Matthew 27:27-32 — the soldiers mock Jesus and lead Him away to be crucified
Mark 14:36 — not what I will, but what you will
Luke 9:23 — take up your cross daily and follow me
John 15:13 — greater love has no one than this
1 Peter 2:24 — He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree
1 John 4:16 — God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God
Hebrews 10:14 — by a single offering He has perfected those being sanctified
Romans 5:8 — while we were still sinners, Christ died for us
John 14:6 — I am the way, and the truth, and the life
James 5:16 — confess your sins to one another, that you may be healed
Resources from This Episode
Join in on our devotional series and get your copies of Husband After God by Aaron Smith (also in our shop) and Wife After God by Jennifer Smith (also in our shop)
Marriage After God by Aaron & Jennifer Smith (also in our shop)
Shop Marriage After God
Full show notes and blog post
Connect with Marriage After God
Website: marriageaftergod.com
Shop books, devotionals, and prayer journals: shop.marriageaftergod.com
Follow Marriage After God: Instagram · Facebook · YouTube · TikTok
Follow Aaron and Jennifer: Husband Revolution · Unveiled Wife
Want to go deeper? Become a patron and help us keep creating resources for marriages that pursue God together.
If this conversation encouraged you, please share it with a couple you love, and subscribe wherever you listen.
As an Amazon Associate, Marriage After God earns from qualifying purchases.
Smith Family Resources, Inc © 2026
46 min
October 30, 2025 Faith Through Infertility and a Prenatal Diagnosis with Christin Rosa
Pressured to end her son's life at 19 weeks, Christin Rosa and her husband chose to fight for him instead
About This Episode
Aaron talks with Christin Rosa, who shares her journey of faith through marriage, infertility and motherhood. Christin opens up about the cultural differences that made the early years of her marriage hard, their season of infertility, and the prenatal diagnosis she and her husband, Mauricio, faced with their son Nate. When doctors pressured them to consider ending his life, they chose instead to advocate for him, trusting God through every uncertain step. Nate survived against the odds, and Christin tells that story in her book, Saving Nate, as a testimony of God's goodness. Along the way she learned that neither children nor a spouse can satisfy the heart the way Jesus does.
About Christin Rosa
Christin Rosa lives in Alberta, Canada, with her husband, Mauricio, who is originally from Brazil; they have been married about 17 years. She is the author of Saving Nate, the story of refusing a doctor-pressured reduction of her son Nate, who was diagnosed with a severe congenital diaphragmatic hernia and survived against a 25 percent prognosis. Her testimony speaks to faith through infertility, uncertainty and the sanctity of life.
In This Episode
An intercultural marriage — how different backgrounds made the early years hard
Infertility — a season that deepened their reliance on God
A devastating diagnosis — learning at 19 weeks that Nate had congenital diaphragmatic hernia
We are people of life — refusing the pressure to consider a reduction
Advocating for your child — fighting for second opinions and treatment options
Nate, gift of God — surviving against a 25 percent prognosis
Only Jesus satisfies — why children or a spouse can't fill that place
Prayer and community — the support that carried them through the darkest season
Scripture Referenced
Isaiah 41:10 — do not fear, for I am with you
Joshua 1:9 — do not be terrified; do not be discouraged
Luke 14:26 — following Jesus above father, mother, spouse and children
Proverbs 18:22 — he who finds a wife finds a good thing
Psalm 127:3-5 — children are a blessing, like arrows in a quiver
Isaiah 55:8-9 — His ways are higher than our ways
Psalm 34:18 — the Lord is near to the brokenhearted
Matthew 5:4 — blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted
Resources from This Episode
Connect with Christin Rosa: Website
Saving Nate by Christin Rosa (also on Amazon)
Shop Marriage After God
Full show notes and blog post
Connect with Marriage After God
Website: marriageaftergod.com
Shop books, devotionals, and prayer journals: shop.marriageaftergod.com
Follow Marriage After God: Instagram · Facebook · YouTube · TikTok
Follow Aaron and Jennifer: Husband Revolution · Unveiled Wife
Want to go deeper? Become a patron and help us keep creating resources for marriages that pursue God together.
If this conversation encouraged you, please share it with a couple you love, and subscribe wherever you listen.
As an Amazon Associate, Marriage After God earns from qualifying purchases.
Smith Family Resources, Inc © 2026
1 hr 5 min
October 29, 2025 Your Spouse Is a Blessing, Not a Burden | Marriage Devotional Week 4
Even when it doesn't feel like it, your spouse is God's gift: how gratitude changes the way you see them
About This Episode
Marriage is one of God's greatest gifts, even in seasons when it doesn't feel that way. In this devotional, we explore what it means to see your spouse as a blessing, not a burden, starting with God's words that it is not good for man to be alone. We talk about how our attitude shows whether we are receiving our spouse with joy, how gratitude and humility transform our perspective, and how forgiveness restores connection and peace. We also share practical ways to cherish, protect and display the gift God has given you, from sincere words to intentional time, and we do a live exercise naming the specific ways we are a gift to each other.
About Aaron & Jennifer Smith
Aaron and Jennifer Smith are the founders of Marriage After God and authors of Husband After God, Wife After God, and Marriage After God. Married since 2007 and raising six children in Bend, Oregon, they started Husband Revolution and Unveiled Wife to share what God was teaching them, not from a place of having it figured out, but as fellow travelers pointing couples back to Jesus.
In This Episode
Your spouse is a gift — even when circumstances or hurt make it hard to feel
Not good to be alone — God's design in bringing Eve to Adam
Receiving the gift — how your attitude shows whether you receive or reject your spouse
Gratitude and humility — remembering what we have been saved from
Cherish, protect, display — practical ways to treasure the gift through words, actions and time
Reflecting God's grace — how forgiveness restores connection and peace
Two are better than one — the strength of partnership in marriage
A live exercise — naming the ways we are a gift to each other
A gift to the world — how your marriage can point others to God
Scripture Referenced
Genesis 2:18 — it is not good that the man should be alone
Genesis 2:23 — this at last is bone of my bones
Proverbs 18:22 — he who finds a wife finds a good thing
Ecclesiastes 4:9 — two are better than one
James 1:17 — every good gift is from above
Matthew 25:40 — as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to me
Philippians 4:8 — whatever is pure and praiseworthy, think on these things
2 Corinthians 5:18 — the ministry of reconciliation
Luke 6:31 — as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them
Resources from This Episode
Join in on our devotional series and get your copies of Husband After God by Aaron Smith (also in our shop) and Wife After God by Jennifer Smith (also in our shop)
Marriage After God by Aaron & Jennifer Smith (also in our shop)
The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman
Shop Marriage After God
Full show notes and blog post
Connect with Marriage After God
Website: marriageaftergod.com
Shop books, devotionals, and prayer journals: shop.marriageaftergod.com
Follow Marriage After God: Instagram · Facebook · YouTube · TikTok
Follow Aaron and Jennifer: Husband Revolution · Unveiled Wife
Want to go deeper? Become a patron and help us keep creating resources for marriages that pursue God together.
If this conversation encouraged you, please share it with a couple you love, and subscribe wherever you listen.
As an Amazon Associate, Marriage After God earns from qualifying purchases.
Smith Family Resources, Inc © 2026
58 min
October 23, 2025 Apprenticeship to Jesus in Marriage and Family with Heath Hardesty
A plumber-turned-pastor on seven practices that weave faith through every part of marriage and family life
About This Episode
Aaron sits down with pastor Heath Hardesty, who shares his journey from plumbing to pastoring and the vision behind his book All Things Together. Heath argues that faith is meant to shape every area of life, not just Sundays, and that apprenticeship to Jesus is how we learn to live what we believe. He describes a culture that fragments us, where media feeds stitch the sacred and profane together and form us without our noticing, and he points to union with Christ as the way back to a whole life. They talk honestly about lament and joy, reflecting that there is not only an empty tomb but a cross and a day of silence. Heath then walks through seven practices that can shape a marriage and family: scriptural meditation, unceasing prayer, life together, unhurried presence, joyful generosity, compassionate gentleness, and faithful witness.
About Heath Hardesty
Heath Hardesty is a pastor, husband, and father who moved from a plumber's apprenticeship into ministry and now serves as lead pastor of Valley Community Church in Pleasanton, California. He is the author of All Things Together, which teaches apprenticeship to Jesus as the path to an integrated life in a fragmented age and offers seven practices for marriage and family.
In This Episode
From plumbing to pastoring — How Heath's path as a plumber's apprentice led him into ministry.
Apprenticeship to Jesus — Why union with Christ leads to abiding, obeying, and being conformed into His image.
A fragmented age — The cultural disintegrations that leave lives disenchanted, dissociated, discontextualized, and disembodied.
How media forms us — Why feeds that stitch the sacred and profane together catechize us into brokenness.
Lament and joy — Holding the cross, the day of silence, and the empty tomb together.
Seven practices for marriage and family — Scriptural meditation, unceasing prayer, life together, unhurried presence, joyful generosity, compassionate gentleness, and faithful witness.
Integrated faith — Letting faith shape every area of life, not just Sundays.
Scripture Referenced
Genesis 1:28 — be fruitful and multiply
Genesis 2:7 — the man became a living soul
Proverbs 18:1 — whoever isolates himself breaks out against all sound judgment
John 11:35 — Jesus wept
Romans 8:28 — all things work together for good
Romans 8:29 — conformed to the image of His Son
2 Corinthians 3:18 — from one degree of glory to another
1 Corinthians 6:15 — our bodies are members of Christ
Matthew 11:29 — I am gentle and lowly in heart
Resources from This Episode
Heath Hardesty's website
All Things Together by Heath Hardesty
The Word of God in English by Leland Ryken
The Marriage Gift: 365 Prayers for Our Marriage by Aaron & Jennifer Smith (also in our shop)
Marriage After God shop
Full show notes and blog post
Connect with Marriage After God
Website: marriageaftergod.com
Shop books, devotionals, and prayer journals: shop.marriageaftergod.com
Follow Marriage After God: Instagram · Facebook · YouTube · TikTok
Follow Aaron and Jennifer: Husband Revolution · Unveiled Wife
Want to go deeper? Become a patron and help us keep creating resources for marriages that pursue God together.
If this conversation encouraged you, please share it with a couple you love, and subscribe wherever you listen.
As an Amazon Associate, Marriage After God earns from qualifying purchases.
Smith Family Resources, Inc © 2026
1 hr 6 min
October 22, 2025 Biblical Roles of Husband and Wife | Marriage Devotional Week 3
Jesus washing feet, a swing-dance lesson, and what servant leadership and true companionship look like at home
About This Episode
In week three of our 30-week devotional series through Husband After God and Wife After God, we look at the distinct yet complementary roles God gives husbands and wives. Aaron opens with Jesus washing the disciples' feet and asks husbands whether we think we are greater than our Master. He describes servant leadership as leading by example rather than by force: initiating reconciliation, leading family Bible time, and being gentle and understanding, like a dance lead who cues his partner instead of yanking her. Jennifer talks about the wife's call to be a helper and companion, admits she once had a one-sided view of companionship, and shares the story of washing Aaron's feet after he returned from a mission trip. Together we reframe Ecclesiastes 4 around each spouse walking closely with God, with your spouse as the third cord.
About Aaron & Jennifer Smith
Aaron and Jennifer Smith are the founders of Marriage After God and authors of Husband After God, Wife After God, and Marriage After God. Married since 2007 and raising six children in Bend, Oregon, they started Husband Revolution and Unveiled Wife to share what God was teaching them, not from a place of having it figured out, but as fellow travelers pointing couples back to Jesus.
In This Episode
Jesus washing feet — Why a servant is not greater than his master, and what that means for husbands and all Christians.
Servant leadership — Leading as Christ leads the Church, by example and not by force.
Leadership at home — Initiating reconciliation, leading family Bible time, and living with your wife in an understanding way.
The swing-dance picture — How a good lead cues his partner instead of yanking her.
The wife as helper and companion — Supporting, encouraging, and praying for your husband.
A changed view of companionship — Jennifer's story of washing Aaron's feet after his mission trip.
The third cord — Reframing Ecclesiastes 4 around each spouse walking with God.
Communication and quality time — How trust and intimacy grow as you both pursue God individually and together.
Scripture Referenced
John 13
Ephesians 5:25
Matthew 23:11
1 Peter 3:7
Colossians 3:19
Philippians 2:1-8
Genesis 2:18
Ecclesiastes 4
Proverbs 27:17
Resources from This Episode
Get Husband After God and Wife After God at shop.marriageaftergod.com
Husband After God by Aaron Smith (also in our shop)
Wife After God by Jennifer Smith (also in our shop)
Marriage After God by Aaron & Jennifer Smith (also in our shop)
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Full show notes and blog post
Connect with Marriage After God
Website: marriageaftergod.com
Shop books, devotionals, and prayer journals: shop.marriageaftergod.com
Follow Marriage After God: Instagram · Facebook · YouTube · TikTok
Follow Aaron and Jennifer: Husband Revolution · Unveiled Wife
Want to go deeper? Become a patron and help us keep creating resources for marriages that pursue God together.
If this conversation encouraged you, please share it with a couple you love, and subscribe wherever you listen.
As an Amazon Associate, Marriage After God earns from qualifying purchases.
Smith Family Resources, Inc © 2026
54 min
October 16, 2025 Lessons from Ecclesiastes w/ Bobby Jamieson
Why everything is never enough, and how receiving life as a gift reshapes contentment in marriage
About This Episode
Aaron talks with pastor and church planter Bobby Jamieson about his book Everything Is Never Enough and what Ecclesiastes teaches about finding lasting joy. Bobby shows how the Preacher examines money, pleasure, and envy and finds them not merely fleeting but absurd, because there is a fundamental disconnect between what our hearts crave and what the world returns. The way forward is to receive life as a gift instead of grasping for gain, to accept our God-given lot, and to rejoice in our work. They apply this to marriage and family, contrasting a self-focused quest with the other-focused toil of nurture, and talk about prayer in parenting, the patience and presence teenagers need, and the ongoing self-sacrifice that ministry and family life require. Bobby ties contentment to thankfulness and points to God as the only one who can satisfy our hearts forever.
About Bobby Jamieson
Bobby Jamieson is the senior pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, a church he helped plant after seven years as an associate pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. His book Everything Is Never Enough is a study of Ecclesiastes that invites readers to receive life as a gift from God rather than grasping for gain, with wisdom for contentment, vocation, and the daily toil of nurturing a family.
In This Episode
Ministry and family life — Bobby's experience as a pastor and church planter raising a family in a busy culture.
Ecclesiastes and the absurd — Why money, pleasure, and envy never deliver what our hearts crave.
Gift versus gain — Receiving life from God instead of grasping for more.
Accepting your lot — Finding contentment in the portion God has given and rejoicing in your toil.
The toil of nurture — How other-focused love in marriage replaces the self-focused quest.
Parenting teenagers — Why prayer, patience, empathy, and emotional presence matter.
Thankfulness — How gratitude aligns your heart with the structure of reality.
Scripture Referenced
Ecclesiastes 1:8
Ecclesiastes 2:10-11
Ecclesiastes 3:11
Ecclesiastes 4:4
Ecclesiastes 4:7-8
Ecclesiastes 5:10
Ecclesiastes 5:18-20
Ecclesiastes 9:9
Ecclesiastes 12:1, 13
Mark 8-10
Matthew 6:21
1 Timothy 6:6-10
Romans 1:20
Resources from This Episode
Everything Is Never Enough by Bobby Jamieson
Marriage After God by Aaron & Jennifer Smith (also in our shop)
Marriage After God shop
Full show notes and blog post
Connect with Marriage After God
Website: marriageaftergod.com
Shop books, devotionals, and prayer journals: shop.marriageaftergod.com
Follow Marriage After God: Instagram · Facebook · YouTube · TikTok
Follow Aaron and Jennifer: Husband Revolution · Unveiled Wife
Want to go deeper? Become a patron and help us keep creating resources for marriages that pursue God together.
If this conversation encouraged you, please share it with a couple you love, and subscribe wherever you listen.
As an Amazon Associate, Marriage After God earns from qualifying purchases.
Smith Family Resources, Inc © 2026
1 hr 2 min
October 15, 2025 God's Design for Marriage | Marriage Devotional Week 2
A Lego manual, a clacker toy, and why your obedience to God doesn't depend on your spouse
About This Episode
In the early years of our marriage we kept asking why it didn't look like what God said it would. In week two of our devotional series through Husband After God and Wife After God, we look at marriage as God's intentional design rather than a human invention. The Bible opens with marriage, and only three to five percent of the animal kingdom is monogamous. Like Lego pieces that come with a manual, marriage works best when we follow the Designer's instructions. We talk about how husbands and wives are equal in value but different in need, why obedience to God is not contingent on your spouse's choices, and how a clunky clacker toy compares to a marriage that moves smoothly. We also warn against being a stumbling block to your spouse and encourage you to run to the Holy Spirit when things get heated.
About Aaron & Jennifer Smith
Aaron and Jennifer Smith are the founders of Marriage After God and authors of Husband After God, Wife After God, and Marriage After God. Married since 2007 and raising six children in Bend, Oregon, they started Husband Revolution and Unveiled Wife to share what God was teaching them, not from a place of having it figured out, but as fellow travelers pointing couples back to Jesus.
In This Episode
Marriage by design — Why marriage was God's idea and not a human invention.
The Lego manual — Following the Designer's instructions for how marriage fits together.
Monogamy in creation — What it means that only a small fraction of the animal kingdom is monogamous.
Love and respect — Equal in value but different in need, drawn from Ephesians 5:33.
Obedience that doesn't wait — Why obeying God isn't contingent on your spouse's behavior or decisions.
The clacker toy — What separates a clunky marriage from a smooth one.
Stumbling blocks — Not making obedience harder for your spouse (Romans 14:13).
Running to the Holy Spirit — What to do in heated moments.
Christ and the Church — How marriage reflects Christ's love and invites couples to celebrate their differences.
Scripture Referenced
Psalm 139:13-14
Genesis 2:18
Ephesians 5:32-33
Romans 5:8
1 John 4:19
Colossians 3:13
Hebrews 12:2
Romans 14:13
Resources from This Episode
Get Husband After God and Wife After God at shop.marriageaftergod.com
Husband After God by Aaron Smith (also in our shop)
Wife After God by Jennifer Smith (also in our shop)
Marriage After God by Aaron & Jennifer Smith (also in our shop)
Full show notes and blog post
Connect with Marriage After God
Website: marriageaftergod.com
Shop books, devotionals, and prayer journals: shop.marriageaftergod.com
Follow Marriage After God: Instagram · Facebook · YouTube · TikTok
Follow Aaron and Jennifer: Husband Revolution · Unveiled Wife
Want to go deeper? Become a patron and help us keep creating resources for marriages that pursue God together.
If this conversation encouraged you, please share it with a couple you love, and subscribe wherever you listen.
As an Amazon Associate, Marriage After God earns from qualifying purchases.
Smith Family Resources, Inc © 2026
50 min
October 09, 2025 Catechism for Families: Discipling Kids with Trevin Wax & Thomas West
Why your family is already being catechized, and how a 50-question catechism answers expressive individualism
About This Episode
Aaron sits down with Trevin Wax and Thomas West to talk about their book, The Gospel Way Catechism, and the challenge of passing on biblical truth in a culture shaped by expressive individualism. They explain why catechesis is always happening, through songs, ads, and social feeds, and why Christian families should be as intentional as the culture is. Their catechism is a 50-question counter-catechism built to connect with, confront, and convert the stories our culture tells. They talk about the role of parents in spiritual formation, encourage fathers who feel inadequate to simply begin, and describe how studying Scripture in community, guided by the historic rule of faith, protects us from deception. The conversation also touches on church revitalization and the need for renewed community in an age of isolation and confusion.
About Trevin Wax & Thomas West
Trevin Wax and Thomas West are the co-authors of The Gospel Way Catechism, a 50-question counter-catechism that confronts Western expressive individualism with the truth of the gospel. Trevin serves at the North American Mission Board, and Thomas is the senior pastor of Nashville First Baptist Church. Drawing on missionary experience in Romania and London and the work of Lesslie Newbigin and Tim Keller, they help churches and families be intentional about discipleship and catechesis.
In This Episode
The Gospel Way Catechism — A 50-question counter-catechism for today's culture.
Expressive individualism — How Western culture's story competes with God's design for faith and family.
You are already being catechized — Disney songs, ads, and social feeds are forming us whether we notice or not.
Connect, confront, convert — A simple way to engage cultural narratives with the gospel.
Parents as disciple-makers — Why the home is central to spiritual formation.
Encouragement for fathers — Using a tool like a catechism even when you feel inadequate.
Guarding against deception — Studying Scripture in community, guided by the historic rule of faith.
Church revitalization — Renewing community and truth in a culture of isolation and confusion.
Scripture Referenced
Deuteronomy 6 — Teaching God's words to your children in the everyday rhythms of life.
Matthew 5 — "You have heard that it was said... but I say to you," the invitational posture of the Sermon on the Mount.
Acts 17 — The Bereans, who examined the Scriptures to test what they heard.
Philippians 2:15 — Shining like stars in a crooked and perverse generation.
Romans 12:2 — Being transformed by the renewing of our minds.
Resources from This Episode
The Gospel Way Catechism (book) by Trevin Wax and Thomas West
The Gospel Way Catechism Workbook by Trevin Wax and Thomas West
How to Reach the West Again by Timothy Keller
The Air We Breathe by Glen Scrivener
gospelwaycatechism.com
Instagram: @trevinwax, @thomasawest
Marriage After God shop
Full show notes and blog post
Connect with Marriage After God
Website: marriageaftergod.com
Shop books, devotionals, and prayer journals: shop.marriageaftergod.com
Follow Marriage After God: Instagram · Facebook · YouTube · TikTok
Follow Aaron and Jennifer: Husband Revolution · Unveiled Wife
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1 hr 5 min