By Allie Martin and Jenni Parker
The head of a pro-family ministry says too many Christians have opted to walk away from troubled marriages instead of fighting for their families.
FamilyLife Ministries president Dennis Rainey says the modern “culture of divorce” has had a negative impact on today’s Christians. He says there are a number of factors that cause marriages to fail over time.
“We have all these ‘robbers of romance’ that occur,” Rainey says, “and if we don’t do something to build [romance] back into our marriages, then what ends up happening is they lose the fire. They lose the romance and just become stale. I don’t think God created marriage to become stale.”
The marriage and family expert says too many Christian marriages fail because couples wait until it is too late to seek help. He points out a number of things often drain the intimacy from a marriage, including financial stress, scheduling conflicts, and lack of communication.
Rainey feels far too many Christians are buying into the lies of the culture of divorce. “We need to be a part of the solution,” he says.
FamilyLife Ministries offers a series of conferences and arena events along with other resources designed to help strengthen marriages. Last month in Orlando, Florida, the ministry presented the first in a new series of one-day events, a sold-out marriage conference called “Rekindling the Romance.” There Rainey and other speakers challenged couples to build intimacy and develop better communication with one another. At the end of the day, Rainey led the attending spouses in the renewal of their marriage vows, and participant Elizabeth Bahe says this proved to be one of the most powerful experiences of the conference.
According to Bahe, she and her husband could not stop the tears of love and commitment that flowed as they re-pledged their vows along with the other couples. “We clasped hands, looked into each other’s eyes, and we pledged to remain together and faithful, for better and for worse — again. At our wedding, we meant our vows, but this time we were far more aware of the weight of what we were saying,” she says.
Dennis Rainey, together with his wife and co-author Barbara Rainey, has written a number of marriage and family resources, including Starting Your Marriage Right (Thomas Nelson, 2000) and Growing a Spiritually Strong Family (Multnomah, 2002).
(This article courtesy of Agape Press).
