A lot of Christian marriages struggle so much that they often pray, “Help me, Jesus! I’m hurting in my marriage”! Yet, nothing seems to change and the marriage may increasingly spiral downward. Then what? There are three possible choices: Leave, Cleave, or Weave.
Leave – If you confide in some family or friends, they may say things like, “I just want you to be happy. So maybe you should get a divorce.”
Cleave – You can stay in your marriage hoping things will change but regardless of your valiant efforts and maybe even your spouse’s, you finally realize that you are still struggling with the same issues.
Weave – This final choice is extremely different than the first two. Let Christ in you and your spouse do for your marriage what neither of you has been able to do.
We all want to be loved, accepted, and respected in our marriages. Yet, we bring fleshly baggage into the marriage that gets exposed when we feel the opposite of any of those three.
God loves you and loves your spouse. He wants your marriage to work but, in most cases, He is using the struggles in your marriage to transform you. He often does this by showing us that He wants us to change our focus from our spouse to ourselves. In that posture, He can reveal unresolved issues within you from which you are operating. You can then let His love and life in you heal you.
Often, we need someone else in the body of Christ to help us get there. At GLI, we offer our Marriage by Grace Conference twice a year and it is like no other Christian marriage conference you may have attended. Bill and Tonda Layle, on our staff, share how the life-giving power of God’s grace has healed years of painful struggles in their own marriage.
If your marriage is struggling, you will leave this Conference with the hope, “If God restored Bill and Tonda’s marriage, surely He can work in my own.” Please register today for our next one or consider paying for a couple to attend who are having difficulty. By the way, pastors, missionaries, and their spouses attend for free.
Live Free in Christ!
Mark Maulding, President and Founder
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