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You love Jesus—but marriage still feels complicated. Ministry pressure. In-law tension. Career moves you didn’t plan. What does a strong Christian marriage actually look like after 25 years? If you're wondering How can I make a relationship last? Stephanie Carter and her husband Bryan--author of Made to Last: 8 Principles to Build Long Lasting Relationships--get you started in the right direction. They chat about conflict, calling, compromise—and the quiet resilience that keeps love standing. If you’re tired of clichés and want faith that works at home, this one’s for you.

Show Notes and Resources

• Learn more about Bryan Carter's and his book Made to Last: Eight Principles to Build Long-Lasting Relationships at bryancarter.org.
• Attend a Weekend to Remember marriage getaway, our faith-based retreat with biblical teaching, practical tools, and focused time for couples: Register now at WeekendToRemember.com
• Sign up for the free Blended and Blessed livestream: a one-day event focused on building unity in blended families: Happening April 18, 2026 — register at blendedandblessed.com
• Set sail on the Love Like You Mean It Marriage Cruise! Now through 3/31/26, use promo code CruiseMadness27 and enjoy exclusive savings on your stateroom. 

• Thanks to the Christian Standard Bible for sponsoring this episode. Learn more at CSBible.com.
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What if the most important question about your savings isn’t how much you have—but what it’s really for?

We often think of saving as a financial skill—and it is. But Scripture invites us to see it as something deeper: a purposeful act of stewardship. When we understand saving through that lens, it begins to shape not just our finances, but our hearts.

Let’s be honest—saving rarely feels automatic.

If it did, we wouldn’t need reminders, spreadsheets, apps, or the occasional sticky note on the fridge. Saving requires us to resist the pull of the present in favor of the future. And that kind of restraint has always been in short supply.

Our culture encourages consumption and immediacy. Spend now. Upgrade now. Enjoy now. But saving calls us to a different rhythm—one marked by patience and preparation.

For many households, the challenge is even more pressing. Without financial margin, it only takes one unexpected expense—a repair, a medical bill, a job transition—to create significant strain. In that sense, saving isn’t just about numbers—it’s about posture.

Saving teaches us to slow down, to hold back, and to make intentional decisions. It’s the discipline of saying “not now” so we can say “yes” when the time is right.

Scripture consistently affirms this kind of foresight.

The book of Proverbs praises diligence, prudence, and gathering in season (Proverbs 6:6–8). These aren’t presented as signs of fear or lack of faith—but as wisdom in action.

Saving doesn’t compete with God’s provision. It responds to it.

When we save, we acknowledge that God has entrusted resources to us—and that we have a responsibility to steward them wisely. Biblical wisdom is never passive. It’s thoughtful, intentional, and forward-looking.

At the same time, Scripture gives us a clear guardrail. Our security doesn’t come from what we accumulate—it comes from the Lord.

When saving becomes a substitute for trust, it quietly shifts our foundation. We begin to rely on what we’ve stored rather than on the One who provides.

Jesus addresses this in Luke 12:24, pointing to the ravens: “They neither sow nor reap… and yet God feeds them.” His message isn’t that planning is wrong—it’s that anxiety is misplaced.

God knows our needs. He is faithful. Saving, rightly understood, is not self-reliance. It’s stewardship under God’s care.

Purpose is what keeps our savings from drifting into fear or accumulation.

Without purpose, saving can feel like deprivation—a constant delay of gratification. It can become a way of managing fear or building a false sense of control.

But with purpose, saving becomes something entirely different.

Saving with purpose transforms restraint into readiness. It isn’t just personal—it’s communal.

Scripture reminds us that we are stewards, not owners. What we have has been entrusted to us for purposes that extend beyond our own lives.

A lack of margin often limits our ability to respond when needs arise. But when we’ve prepared wisely, we’re positioned to give, serve, and support others more freely.

Generosity often requires readiness. And readiness requires margin.

It’s important to remember: Scripture doesn’t prescribe a universal savings percentage or target balance.

Faithfulness isn’t measured by a number.

For some—especially those facing financial hardship—saving may feel out of reach. That struggle is real, especially in today’s economic climate.

For others,

You know, when you share a smile with someone, it’s not like they take it from you and you don’t have it anymore. Often you both end up smiling. When you share a word of encouragement, both of you are the better for it. When you share the Good News of God’s love, it can touch both of you profoundly. Today on A NEW BEGINNING, Pastor Greg Laurie shares how the Gospel is at the very center of God’s plan for mankind. It’s the one thing that can change the eternal trajectory of someone else’s life.

—

Become a Harvest Partner today and join us in knowing God and making Him known through media and large-scale evangelism, our mission of over 30 years.

Explore more resources from Pastor Greg Laurie, including daily devotionals and blogs, designed to answer your spiritual questions and equip you to walk closely with Christ.

Support the show: https://bit.ly/anbsupport

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Champ Thornton wants to inspire children – and their parents – with fascinating Bible facts, biographies of great Christians, humor, trivia, and more! He believes kids need to integrate their faith with the “real world” all around them and learn how to discern between godly truth and cultural perspectives.

Receive a copy of The Really Radical Book for Kids and an audio download of "What Kids Need to Know About God, Faith, and Fun!" for your donation of any amount!

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Did you know you have up to 80,000 thoughts a day, and 95% are subconscious? Your mind is constantly shaping your reality. Discover the biblical "law of cognition" and learn how taking your thoughts captive can drastically transform your emotions, decisions, relationships, and spiritual growth through the renewing power of God.

Guest Speaker

KYLE IDLEMAN is the senior pastor at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. He is the bestselling and award-winning author of Not a Fan, Aha, and Grace Is Greater. He is a frequent speaker at national conventions and influential churches across the country. Kyle and his wife, DesiRae, have four children and live on a farm where he doesn't do any actual farming.

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I'm not sure if it's harder for a baby to have major surgery or adults like us. Little Jamie? He was not even a year old, but he had to undergo heart surgery; which I associate kind of with older people. Jamie was the nephew of one of our team members, and she was from Australia. The miles made it pretty tough on her, so we all joined her in praying for this little guy so far away. And thankfully, Jamie came through with flying colors. His heart was fixed. It was a tough operation, but it had to be done. You see, Jamie, they said, had a hole in his heart, and you can't just leave it that way!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Heart Holes."

It's understood that a hole in the human heart is serious business and that you have to take corrective action to get it fixed. Thank God, there are surgeons with the ability to do just that. But when it comes to emotional holes and the spiritual holes in the human heart, it's amazing how many people are walking around with that heart condition totally untreated. But, like its physical equivalent, a hole in your heart spiritually will greatly limit what your life could be, and one day it will cost you your life. The good news is there's a surgeon who repairs the spiritual hole in the human heart. He's done it for many people. He's done it for a long time.

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from John 4. It's a story out of Jesus' life. It's noon, it's hot, and Jesus stops at a well for a meeting that it turns out God has arranged. A woman arrives at the well with her water pot to get another day's water supply. She has no idea Jesus knows all about her. She's a woman with a past, a reputation, with a lot of mistakes, and a lot of men in her life. As the conversation proceeds, she's forced to admit that she's been divorced five times and she's currently living with another guy. Her life has been an endless search for love and fulfillment in a series of unfulfilling relationships. She's got a hole in her heart that's never gone away. Maybe like you.

Jesus addresses it in a disarming way by comparing it to the physical thirst that brings her to the well that very day. Verse 13 of chapter 4, He says, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again." Thirsty again. You know, that's a word picture for our lifelong search for something that will quench the thirst in our soul - to fill the hole in our heart. It could be that every relationship, every accomplishment, every religion has left you "thirsty again."

Listen to Jesus' offer: "But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." Who needs all these trips to wells that never fill you up when Jesus could put a spiritual and emotional spring inside you that will finally quench your thirst.

All our lives, it's our creator we've been thirsty for, because all of the me - first, sinful choices of our life have cut us off from the One who made us, whose love we were made for. But all the garbage was heaped on Jesus when He went to the cross to pay for your sin and mine so we could finally find that peace-giving relationship with God we've needed all along.

It's a relationship that's within your reach right now; if you'll tell Jesus you want Him to be your Savior from your sin. That woman we just read about did not have "meeting the Savior" on her list for that day, and you probably didn't either. But Jesus met her where she was, which is what He's doing with you right now. So today could be your last trip to wells that never satisfy.

Would you tell Him, "Jesus, if you died for me, I know I can trust you with my life. I need my sins erased from God's Book. Come into my life today I'm putting all my trust in You." Our website, A

Whether you're 17 or 71, popular or struggling, put-together or barely hanging on—we all need the same thing. And His name is Jesus. We'll see that in this message from Pastor Greg Laurie!

Notes:

In Luke 8, we meet two very different people with two very different problems.
 
If you feel like your life is falling apart, this story is for you.
 
Read Luke 8:40–48
 
This poor woman had been in poor health for 12 years.
This young girl, who was sick and near death, was 12 years old.
  
Luke 8:41 (NLT)
[Jairus] came and fell at Jesus' feet, pleading with Him to come home with him.
 
We all should want Jesus to come home with us.
  
Parents: the best thing you can do is get your children to Jesus.
 
Be faithful. Be consistent. Be present.
 
Deuteronomy 6:6–7 (NLT)
And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.
 
Every young person is looking for three things:
a place to belong,
a purpose to live for,
and to be loved.
 
Jairus had great faith in Christ.
 
Then this woman burst on the scene.
How easily Jairus could have resented this intrusion.
 
Jesus is never late. He is always on time.
 
This woman had been sick for 12 long years with no hope for a cure.
 
Maybe you, too, need a healing touch from Jesus right now.
Reach out to Him as this desperate woman did.
 
Jesus literally said, “Who touched Me on my clothes?
I felt in myself the power going out from Me.”
 
The Bible says, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you!”
(James 4:8)
 
Read Luke 8:49–50
 
Jairus heard these dreadful words, “Your daughter is dead.”
 
But Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.”
 
Jairus had to choose which voice to listen to.
 
“Fear not, for I am with you; I will strengthen you.”
(Isaiah 41:10)
 
“Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
(John 14:27)
 
“I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
(Hebrews 13:5)
 
“I know the thoughts that I think toward you, thoughts of peace, and not of evil.”
(Jeremiah 29:11)
 
How do you hear the voice of God?
By opening the Bible.
 
Read Luke 8:51–53
  
God doesn’t just care about your afterlife.​
He also cares about you in this life.
 
1 Timothy 6:17b (ESV)
God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
 
John 5:24
"I tell you the truth, those who listen to My message and believe in God who sent Me have eternal life. They pass from death to life.”
 
The woman needed Jesus.
Jairus needed Jesus.
That little 12-year-old girl needed Jesus.
And so do you.
 
Turn to Jesus.
 
Only Jesus can give meaning to your life and hope beyond death.
 
Everyone needs Jesus.

—

Become a Harvest Partner today and join us in knowing God and making Him known through media and large-scale evangelism, our mission of over 30 years.

Explore more resources from Pastor Greg Laurie, including daily devotionals and blogs, designed to answer your spiritual questions and equip you to walk closely with Christ.

Support the show: https://bit.ly/anbsupport

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.