14 Values that Godly Couples Have! (Part 1)

I was cleaning out our storage barn over Memorial Day Weekend and found notes from Dr Tackett's Class, a class I took in seminary. Dr. Tackett taught on the subject of Christian Counseling at the time. In honor of Becki and I's recent anniversary, I thought I would share 14 values that Godly Couples have over the next four weeks. I did not come up with these value, they came from the research of my professor that he did and from his time researching wit Dr. John Gottman. The Gottman Institute can predict with amazing accuracy those couples who will be divorced. Please not that I have rephrased these 14 values to be easier to read and understand.

1.  Godly couples understand that Christ is the only foundation for a Christ Marriage. (Lk 6:46-49; Matt 7:24-27)

• Godly couples do not buy into the cultural goal, that marriage is for personal satisfaction.  These couples are very affirming that their lives are not about themselves, but instead about who God is and how God works.  These couples understand that their marriages are a means to make them holy not just happy.

2.  Godly couples value their friendship with each other.

• Godly couples experience a deep and abiding friendship with each other and it is founded on what Christ is doing in their lives. Your best friend on this planet should be your spouse.

3.  Godly couples realize that "I am a marital sinner, specifically I sin against my spouse and God."

• There is a real honesty about one's sin, both spouses know that they are only one sin away from entering a pattern of sin that will destroy their marriage and their family. They take their sin personally and seriously. (see Romans 7:15-20)

4.  Godly couples understand that little sins lead to big ones. (1 Cor. 5:6-8)

• Big doors swing on small hinges.  It takes numerous little sins to lead to the big sins of an affair. These sins might be of omission (sins of not doing something when we should have) not commission (sins of doing something when we shouldn't have done anything). Godly couples are sin detectives in their own lives, searching out their motives and thinking patterns for sin.

5.  Godly couples understand the value of personal responsibility. (Gal. 6:1-10)

• Godly Couples believe that they are responsible before God and each other for their marriage. These couples believe they are responsible before God and each other for the future of their marriage. If they sow sin they will reap divorce.