On-Demand Player

There are many people who gather weekly to worship Jesus Christ—learning about His life and death and resurrection—and that’s a good thing. But so many of them miss crucial details of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Are you one of them? Do you know what the cross means for your life today? Consider that in John MacArthur’s lesson.

Based on his book Making Your Marriage a Fortress, Gary Thomas helps couples anticipate and weather the inevitable storms of life. He says that they can grow closer to each other and God through these experiences. He provides encouragement and hope for couples who are currently struggling, as well as offering a preparatory warning to couples who haven’t yet faced a crisis and need to know that such crises are inevitable.

Receive a copy of the Helping Kids Through Life’s Changes bundle and an audio download of "Making Your Marriage a Fortress" for your donation of any amount! Plus, receive member-exclusive benefits when you make a recurring gift today. Your monthly support helps families thrive.

Get more episode resources 

Do you have a story or comment on how Focus on the Family impacted you or your family? Leave a message for Jim Daly! 

If you enjoyed listening to Focus on the Family with Jim Daly, please give us your feedback.

Deep inside each of us is an image of the better person we long to become. Chip continues this series with a look at how God transforms us from the inside out. And as you’ll hear, the process He’s created to do this work is not what you might expect.

Resources

• Message Notes
• Special Offers

Connect

• 888-333-6003
• Website
• Chip Ingram App
• Instagram
• Facebook
• YouTube

Partner With Us

• Donate Online
• 888-333-6003

Sermon Overview
Scripture Passage: 1 Peter 3:7-9

God’s plan for marriage is for husband and wife to become one flesh, totally together as one. In order to be this intimate, men and women must have constant, healthy communication. 1 Peter 3 offers four steps to total intimacy and total togetherness in marriage.

Husbands must dwell with their wives thoughtfully: “Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel...” (1 Peter 3:7). Men and women are equal in worth before God, but they are quite different and do not serve the same function. Neither is better or worse—God put these differences in us to complement each other.

Men are designed to be initiators, while women are designed to be responders.

Men and women are also different in thought. Generally, men tend to think logically, while women tend to think emotionally. Men tend to be inward thinkers, while women tend to be outward talkers. Men tend to be more goal-oriented, while women are generally more relationship-oriented.

We must understand our differences and give thought to the other in our communication.

We must also dwell together thankfully; we should be in the habit of expressing appreciation for each other, to each other.

Adrian Rogers says, “Happy is the man who learns how to express thanksgiving. Nothing will do more to intimacy in a marriage than for you to recognize those character traits and achievements in your wife and give honor to her.”

Couples must also communicate their trust in each other, understanding they are “heirs together of the grace of life” (1 Peter 3:7).

Husbands must value their wives’ opinions and transparency, so that their wives may speak into their circumstances without fear of retaliation. One way we do this is by praying for each other, with each other.

Finally, we must express tenderness: “Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous…” (1 Peter 3:8).

This passage calls wives the weaker vessel—this does not mean they are inferior, rather, that they are more delicate and should be handled with tenderness, physically and emotionally. We must love in the little things, dwell together as one flesh, and allow our homes to become colonies of Heaven.

Apply it to your life
God’s Word gives practical insight to reach total togetherness in marriage; if we communicate thoughtfulness, thanksgiving, trust, and tenderness, we can reach total intimacy.

Perhaps you’ve heard several takes on the Crucifixion over the years. Maybe you’ve considered that event through the eyes of the disciples, or perhaps from the thief on the cross. But what other details should you consider? Are there any that you have missed? Find out as John MacArthur continues his study called The Gospel According to God.

Based on his book Making Your Marriage a Fortress, Gary Thomas helps couples anticipate and weather the inevitable storms of life. He says that they can grow closer to each other and God through these experiences. He provides encouragement and hope for couples who are currently struggling, as well as offering a preparatory warning to couples who haven’t yet faced a crisis and need to know that such crises are inevitable.
Receive a copy of the Helping Kids Through Life’s Changes bundle and an audio download of "Making Your Marriage a Fortress" for your donation of any amount! Plus, receive member-exclusive benefits when you make a recurring gift today. Your monthly support helps families thrive.
Get more episode resources
Do you have a story or comment on how Focus on the Family impacted you or your family? Leave a message for Jim Daly! 
If you enjoyed listening to Focus on the Family with Jim Daly, please give us your feedback.

Where do you get the power to change? Is it in regular Bible reading? Church attendance? Mission trips? What brings about the change that we all long to see in our lives? Chip explores this question and provides an answer that might surprise you.

Resources

• Message Notes
• Special Offers

Connect

• 888-333-6003
• Website
• Chip Ingram App
• Instagram
• Facebook
• YouTube

Partner With Us

• Donate Online
• 888-333-6003