Marriages and families are in distress. Blunt. Painful. Reality. It’s the consequence of the sinful selfishness that infects us all. How do we turn this around? WE DON’T! But, the God who made us STILL loves us and is eager to heal our brokenness. And, in fact, He already has. Jesus did it. Done deal! We get to benefit from it by receiving His gift for free. Where do we start? Repentance of our selfishness. Fleeing to Him for grace. Receiving His forgiveness. Rejoicing in salvation. Walking in newness of life. Guided by the Holy Spirit.
This takes us to listening to the Holy Spirit. The Spirit leads us to the answers to life’s three key questions. These answers are critical for the restoration of broken marriages. They’re essential before the start of a healthy marriage. So, here you go…
Where did we come from? GOD made us (our first ancestors, Adam and Eve) perfect in His image at creation some 6000 years ago. But, sadly, we’ve lost that perfection as we’ve selfishly turned from God to our own sinful ways (thus broken homes).
Where are we going? BACK TO GOD in a New Creation made possible by the free gift of forgiveness purchased for us by Jesus’ sinless life, substitutionary death and victorious resurrection. We are sure of this as the Holy Spirit leads us to repentance and faith in Jesus through Holy Baptism and God’s Word.
What’s our purpose in between? LIVING IN THANKFUL SERVICE to Jesus by loving Him above all else and teaching everyone about new life in Him. We start by passing along His sacrificial, unconditional and incarnational love in our homes every day.
Lent is a good time to reflect on these basics and get our own lives in order. Return to these foundational questions and everything else shrinks in importance. Our petty, selfish conflicts that divide our homes are driven out. We start afresh in the grace of Jesus by the power of the Spirit. We grow in the JOY of salvation as we dig further into Jesus’ Word to guide us in His love. More on that soon.