Fear is intensified by passionate love. The more I care about someone, the more I'm concerned about their welfare. The less we have to lose, in one sense, the easier it is to be "brave."

Any mature, spiritually sensitive view of marriage must be built on the foundation of mature love rather than romanticism. But this immediately casts us into a countercultural pursuit.

Parenting changed for me when I finally realized it's not about being a perfect parent trying to raise perfect kids, but rather, family life is a collection of sinners slowly growing together toward Jesus Christ as we rub shoulders, yield to his grace, ask for forgiveness and offer forgiveness, and are shaped accordingly.

When God entrusts his children to us - for they're all ultimately his - he knows what we lack, he knows where we're weak, he knows how we tend to sin, yet still he places these children in our households and under our care.

If you want to be free to serve Jesus, there’s no question—stay single. Marriage takes a lot of time. But if you want to become more like Jesus, I can’t imagine any better thing to do than to get married. Being married forces you to face some character issues you’d never have to face otherwise.

What if your husband’s faults are God’s tools to shape you? What if the very thing that most bugs you about your man constitutes God’s plan to teach you something new? Are you willing to accept that your marriage makeover — the process of moving a man — might begin with you?

Done well, marital sexuality can be a supremely healing experience.