Married and How To Stay That Way' (Casados y Cómo Continuar Así) - Softcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

During the past twenty-one years Steve Carr has been the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel in Arroyo Grande, California. Before coming to his present ministry, he spent an additional eight years teaching Bible studies with Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, California under the ministry of Pastor Chuck Smith. As a pastor, Steve has had the experience and opportunity to use the sure Word of God and its application to help many people experience victorious Christian living.

Throughout his ministry, Steve has counseled many couples who are in the midst of crisis and who are looking for solutions and answers to their problems. The counsel he gives does not come from the theories of untried ideas, but from many years of real-life counseling situations and from seeing what actually works in the lives of his counselees. In the years Steve has spent studying the Scriptures, combined with the experience of counseling, he is able to help couples come to an understanding of their problems and apply the biblical solutions that result in restoration and reconciliation.

Steve writes the quarterly marriage publication, Covenant Keepers, which has an international circulation of over a thousand churches with translation in Spanish, Russian, Tamil (an Indian dialect), and the Romanian language. Each week he receives phone calls and letters of appreciation from couples around the country describing how they have given their lives to Christ or have seen their marriages reconciled. In addition, many churches use this publication for marriage ministries within their congregations.

He believes that the Word of God has the complete and all-sufficient solutions to the problems Christian couples are facing today. Because of the many requests from couples for more comprehensive instruction in solving marital problems, he has authored the book, Married And How To Stay That Way, based solely on God's Word.

Steve and his wife, Susan, have been married for over twenty-six years and have raised two sons.

Von der hinteren Coverseite

Do you long in your heart for a closer relationship with your spouse? Have you struggled to find real companionship with your husband of wife? This is hope! The solution is simpler than you think! Now you can gain a clear understanding of the time-tested solutions found in God's Word that are necessary for building a successful marriage. Change is possible and you are about to discover how it can happen!

Discover how to: Recognize the root of your problems Stop recurring conflicts Work with an uncooperative spouse Identify what hinders effective communication Build understanding with each other Deepen your friendship Rekindle the fire of romance Build a lasting foundation of love and commitment

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Now that you understand why conflicts occur in your relationship and the correct motives to resolve them, the big question is: what practical steps should you take to resolve them? You can agree with all of the truths I have just gone over in the previous chapter and still not understand exactly how to put them into practice. Knowing how to do something is always the difference between success or failure. This is where much of our present-day preaching has failed. You are taught what you should do, why you should do it, but few explain how to actually put their teachings into practice. However, the Bible is a book filled with practical explanation of how to implement its teachings. If you are truly sincere about removing the hindrances impeding oneness and companionship in your marriage, then this is the chapter for you. What you need to do, at this point, is to make a list of all unresolved conflicts in your marriage, and keep it in front of you as you read through this chapter. Ask yourself each of the questions below. Your answers will determine whether or not you will actually be able to fully resolve your particular problems. 1. Are you willing to take action to resolve these issues? We covered this question in chapter one in great detail, so I won't spend a lot of time here. However, it's easy to talk about wanting real companionship with your spouse, and to still be stubborn or unwilling to actually work at it. Therefore, look back at your list of unresolved conflicts and ask yourself if you are willing to take action regarding each one. Remember what Isaiah said, "If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword" (Is. 1:19,20 NKJV). Isaiah coupled these two qualities for a reason; willingness must be followed by obedience or action. It can't be a half-hearted willingness. This is completely insufficient for lasting change to occur. God knows the difference and so will your spouse. How can you tell if you've got a half-hearted willingness? Simply by looking at what actions you are willing to take. If you are whole-heartedly willing, then you will be fully obedient to all God requires of you. If Scripture asks you to take a specific action that you don't feel like performing, would you do it? You may think, What about my spouse? Shouldn't they do something too? We will get to that question later. First, you must take care of your own attitude and actions. The first thing you need to do is ask God for a willingness to actually go to your spouse and seek reconciliation. There is never a justification for you to avoid the attempt to reconcile with your partner. Jesus gave His disciples no excuse for holding back when they knew there was an unresolved issue in their personal relationships. "Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift" (Matt. 5:23-24 NKJV underline added). "Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother" (Matt. 18:15 NKJV underline added). These passages instruct that if you have been offended by someone or if you know that someone is angry with you, in both cases, you are commanded to go and seek reconciliation. The emphasis should be on the word go. Jesus doesn't want you to come and worship Him when you know there is an unresolved conflict with your brother. Sometimes the reason why reconciliation doesn't occur is the simple unwillingness of one or both partners to go to the other. You obviously can't begin to reconcile anything until you meet face to face. That is why you need to begin by asking God for a willing heart to go to your spouse. Prayer can change your heart today if you will just ask. Remember James cautioned us: "You do not have because you do not ask" (James 4:2 NKJV). Before you even continue reading any further, ask God for the willingness to actually go and approach your spouse over the issues that separate you.