In culture today there are a lot of competing messages about masculinity. It gets even trickier when you start listening to different people try to define biblical masculinity. In this episode we focus on what the Bible does say about masculinity and highlight areas that are often presented as biblical but where the Bible is actually silent. We then try to give men some direction on how to be the husbands God has called them to be.

In this episode we reference the book Of Boys And Men: Why the Modern Male is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do About It by Richard Reeves

When we get married we become one but we don’t lose who we are. Our personalities are part of who we are as individuals. These differences are important and can sometimes lead to conflict. Couples will often mishandle these differences by ignoring or exaggerating them. In this episode we hope to help you learn how to manage your differences in a healthy way.

Link to the article Jen read:

https://www.sistersletter.com/we-time/many-women-over-40-who-seem-lucky-in-love-actually-know-this?cmp=SNP-ICM-FB-SISTERS-CTW&kenshooID=284884660&kpid=fb_cmp-6271654246437_adg-6303225404237_ad-6307010121237&fbclid=IwAR2zy6Jkp0W6pMjnaVCPBlu4z4RuWFopjfLf2Eq1NnwdwD-v5yDP-Lw5LLw

Divorce is not desirable. It is definitely not what we want for your marriage, but the reality is that divorce is an option. When pretending that divorce is not an option it prevents us from dealing with the issues that lead to divorce. We can’t prevent divorce by saying it’s not an option. We can only prevent divorce by dealing with the issues that lead to divorce.

A thriving marriage is not something you arrive at but rather a journey you’re on. This episode discusses some of the signs you will see when a marriage is thriving.

Becoming parents is not the purpose of marriage. Parenting, however, can lead to conflicts in marriage when you, as a couple, don’t agree on how to handle things. It’s important to manage the Unexpectations around parenting. If you don’t it will keep your marriage from thriving.

Does your spouse complete you? Is that the biblical vision for marriage?

Well, the answer is no. The one who completes us is God not our spouse. A thriving marriage is not a couple completing each other. A thriving marriage is two people complete in Christ growing in holiness together. Your marriage will thrive when you look to God to complete you and your spouse to be your partner in growing to be more fit for the kingdom of God.

According to an article in the Washington Post by Terrence Real there is a normal amount of marital hatred. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/09/23/marriage-relationships-conflict/

Is that true? Is there a normal amount of hatred in marriage? Well, Jesus calls us to love our enemies. If that’s true then even more so then we should love our spouses. Hate does not have a place in Christianity at all much less, in marriage. Yet, in marriage we will not always be happy. There will be times when we aren’t happy in marriage but that should not lead us to hate our spouses.

Marriage exists to help to people become more fit to fulfill the purpose that God has for them. One of the ways we do that is by supporting each other. To be effective at this we need to match the right support to the need. Support can be emotional, tangible, or informational. Each one is necessary at different times to make a marriage thrive.

You can find the article Jen references in this episode at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/shared-existence/202209/how-common-misunderstanding-leads-so-many-couples-conflict