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December 21, 2022 - March 6, 2023
Keep reminding your children of the faithfulness and goodness of God. Be ruthless with sin and merciful t...
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What would your children know about God if all they ever understood came from your lips and your life?
Lord, may the Word of God and prayer fill my home in a powerful way. Forgive me when I don’t make You the priority. I commit to obeying the commandments in the Bible, for they bring light and life. Help my children and me to pass the tests that come our way today. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Pray over your children by name at the beginning and ending of each day this week.
A man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. Genesis 2:24
Overnight they transform two romantic adults into a sleep-deprived team solely dedicated to meeting the needs of a very tiny person who cannot speak.
Being a parent can slowly supersede being a spouse, and trouble can take root. When marriage is thrown in the trunk while the kids are placed front and center, the couple is bound to get lost.
Married people aren’t as romantic as dating people. You’ve got to work at putting deposits into the marriage bank as your kids grow up. A good sense of humor helps too!
Parenting is hard, consuming, draining work on many days. It takes effort to save energy to invest in your marriage.
The most successful families aren’t headed by two parents; they are led by a husband and wife who love each other above all others.
Keeping romance alive and well during the child-raising years takes intentionality (and occasional kissing in a dark park).
“Never let the honeymoon end. It’s much easier to keep love alive than to try to revive something that has died.”
your calendar may be your best ally in creating intimacy in your marriage.
“Couples with kids that don’t schedule sex don’t have sex.”
You must make regular time for physical intimacy, date nights, hobbies, and honeymoons, putting shared events with just your spouse on the calendar.
As you take moments in the day to listen to your spouse, whether he or she just got home from a trip or from a day at the office, it paves the way to intimacy.
“Marriage is not so much finding the right person as it is being the right person.”4
“A husband is even called to love a disrespectful wife, and a wife is called to respect an unloving husband. There is no justification for a husband to say, ‘I will love my wife after she respects me’ nor for a wife to say, ‘I will respect my husband after he loves me.’”5
Husbands are called to love wives. Period. Wives are called to respect husbands. Period. You can be the one to take the first step toward your not-so-perfect spouse.
Be faithful to your wife.
Be honest.
Be just.
Be a giver.
Be trustworthy.
Be industrious.
Be attractive.
Be wise and kind with your words.
Men, make it your goal to become more respectable to your wife with each passing year. Women, become more lovable. Put away complaining and put each other first. Manage your household well and laugh more.
The healthy family is God first, spouse second, child third.
I advise single parents not to remarry unless they are ready to put the new spouse in the number two spot.
spend time alone with your biological children after you remarry.
I was a single parent for seventeen years. I would encourage you to find a godly person of the same sex who you admire and want to learn from. You’re not looking for someone to grandparent your kids, just someone who can pray for you and give you wisdom when you’re going through hard times. Look for Christian families who will have you and your kids over, so your kids can experience what a two-parent healthy home looks like. Don’t shy away from couples and families. Your kids will be hungry to be in relationships when they grow up. You want them to have good examples.7
From a marriage standpoint, we’ve got to back up our spouses, even when it goes against how we would normally roll (as long as what our spouse is proposing is legal and not insane or sinful!).
It’s imperative you and your spouse form a united front at all times when seen by the little people.
Consider the people in your home. Does your spouse come first, or do your kids? This gets tricky because in theory your marriage is the priority, but in practice, the kids often come first.
Notice again what it says in Genesis 2:24: “A man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.” You don’t become one flesh with your son or daughter. Your child isn’t supposed to be your BFF. You’re not permanently attached to your kids. In fact, your sons and daughters are designed by their Creator to grow up and leave your home (sniff, sniff), becoming permanently attached to their spouses.
year.”11 In the “dating apocalypse,” there are no more long conversations to really get to know one another. No more courting. No more need for a wedding band and vow before making love. Finding someone to have sex with using dating apps is as easy as ordering takeout for dinner. Combine these apps with the availability of porn, and the dating apocalypse is destructive to the future families of a society.
There was a stigma associated with sex outside of marriage. Today the stigma follows the young person who won’t have sex before marriage. These are challenging times.
The way we cherish (or don’t cherish) our spouses will shape the homes our children will create.
It’s good for children to see their parents hugging and kissing each other. It brings security to the child. It gives a child a model of how husbands and wives ought to relate to each other. Normal behavior between a husband and wife in marriage involves physical touch. When parents don’t touch in front of the children, it may communicate to the child that touching is not good. And we know that physical touch is one of the five love languages.12
If your marriage is healthy and attractive, your sons and daughters will get a head start toward a happy family life for themselves.
Your son’s or daughter’s future relationship with a spouse is more important than career or athletic success in the big picture of life.
There is no one who is more important in your life than your spouse—not even your cute baby or sassy teenager. Put marriage in the front seat. Your kids will be just fine in the back.
Do you and your spouse act as a united front? If not, when could you schedule a time to discuss family matters privately when your kids are not listening?
Lord, help me to love and respect my spouse every day. Rekindle the tenderness between us. Make us into a model of love and commitment to our children. Help us to laugh more and have fun with each other. Give us wisdom to resolve conflicts, and give us a spirit of unity in our marriage. We ask for godly spouses in the future for our children. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Kiss your spouse in front of your kids today. Schedule your next date night, and be sure to save time for physical intimacy.
You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Yes, this will be the blessing for the man who fears the LORD. Psalm 128:2–4
The people around the table, the food served, the conversation that occurs—those are the things that make a mealtime great.
The regularity of shared mealtimes may reveal the health of your home quicker than any other indicator.
It’s been proven time and again that eating together as a family on a regular basis creates a healthy child.
