For a few years, I’ve been focused on my own marriage journey and how to improve it. Naturally, this has led me to want to help others prepare themselves for marriage.  An even bigger endeavor has been to put my thoughts and ideas into book form. It has been an interesting journey, and it will take me a little while to finish it.

Sometimes it feels like the institution of marriage is under attack and that we don’t have enough time or enough resources to address this pressing need. I sense that so many young people are getting married not knowing what marriage is really about and many more are getting divorced. Some of my friends jokingly say,  “Hurry up! I want my children to read your book”. It’s comforting to know that God has been putting the same topic in the hearts of thousands of people.

In my opinion, the most pressing issue has more to do with our love for God than love for a future marriage partner. In order to become a stable and loving marriage partner, you first need to know the love of God and then love him back. Knowing how much we are loved allows us to become better lovers. If you learn to love God, you will definitely learn to love your spouse the way God intended you to.

Luke 10:27 New International Version (NIV)

27 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[a];(A) and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]”(B)

I personally ask God daily to not let my love for Him to grow cold. I want to have a passionate, crazy love for God that will lead me to love my spouse, my family, my friends, and of course myself more. Love can be described in so many ways, but one of the most amazing ways is when we say no to temptation.

I am reminded of the story of Joseph in the Bible. When he was tempted by Potiphar’s wife, Joseph thought clearly “How can I sin against my God”. I love this part of the Bible because it inspires and helps me to believe that the power of God’s love can stop us from making bad choices, and love can also inspire us to be passionate about the right things.