(These are the transcripts of a series of ‘Midday Meditations’ – 60-second devotionals – broadcast on Radio Cayman in April 2019)
The causes of marriage problems are not usually very complicated. The situation might be complex, but most issues end up being about a lack of communication, or bad communication. One or both of the couple might have stopped investing in the relationship physically, verbally or practically, and it only takes one person to stop doing those things and the relationship suffers. Ultimately if one person shuts down totally in one of those areas, you have a relationship that is in trouble.
Those things can always be fixed where there is genuine willingness. Where a relationship doesn’t get fixed is when one of the couple denies that the communication needs to happen at all. And for couples considering marriage I would say if one of you doesn’t believe that good communication is a priority, you’re not going to have a proper relationship, never mind a successful one.
Same goes for Christians. A Christian is someone who is in a relationship with God and God’s let us know what communication looks like: learning more about him through all he says to us in the Bible, and talking to him through prayer.
You can’t make yourself a Christian by reading the Bible any more than you can make yourself married to someone by talking to them, but a Christian invests in their relationship through Bible reading and prayer, just as any successful human relationship is grounded on deliberate and ongoing communication.
Paul T Reynolds 