"I have come to believe that you and I can manage to acquire almost anything we are determined to have. If we want to be married badly enough, we can find someone who will marry us. If an unhappy spouse wants to get out of marriage badly enough, he or she can get out. But we need to be reminded of how dangerous it is to insist that God give us our own will."

“The Bible’s most profound insight on marriage is that there is a purpose for marriage, and it isn’t simply for our personal enjoyment. The purpose of marriage is to glorify God by helping to reshape each of us into the person he or she is intended to be.”

"Each of us is born with an instinctive 'me first' attitude. But in marriage, each husband and wife has to cultivate a 'we first' mentality‐‐and each needs to know that his or her partner shares that value."

"Contempt is born when we fixate on our spouse's weaknesses. Every spouse has these sore points. If you want to find them, without a doubt you will. If you want to obsess about them, they'll grow‐‐but you won't!"

“To God, forever does not mean ‘for as long as the marriage works.’ Forever means for the rest of your lives. God sees our vows as life‐binding and permanent (Numbers 30:1‐2; Malachi 2:13‐16; Matthew 5:33.37)."

“Marriage is the union of two imperfect people who, in their selfishness, sinfulness, and demands of each other, will cause disappointment and hurt. You must lay aside those difficulties and hold fast to forgiveness, love, and Christ’s command to love even those who don’t at times appear to love you.”

"No matter what your situation, I'm confident that there is hope for any marriage‐‐as long as you are willing to believe that God, through His Spirit and the wisdom found in the Bible, can radically change your lives."

"Dating is largely a dance in which you always try to put the best face forward‐‐hardly a good preparation for the inevitable self‐disclosure implied in marriage. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if many marriages end in divorce largely because one or both partners are running from their own revealed weaknesses as much as they are running from something they can't tolerate in their spouse."

"When I hear of couples who break up after just three or four years, I feel sad because they haven't even begun to experience what being married is really like. ... Becoming one‐‐in the deepest, most intimate sense‐‐takes time. It's a journey that never really ends, but it takes at least the span of a decade for the sense of intimacy to really display itself in the marriage relationship."

“Numerous studies document that children who experience parental divorce exhibit more conduct problems, more symptoms of psychological maladjustment, lower academic achievement, more social difficulties, and poorer self‐concepts compared with children living in intact, two‐parent families.”

"Yes, it is difficult to love your spouse. But if you truly want to love God, look right now at the ring on your left hand, commit yourself to exploring anew what that ring represents, and love passionately, crazily, enduringly the fleshly person who put it there. It just may be one of the most spiritual things you can do."

“The ability to discern the thoughts and motives of your heart (especially when experiencing intense emotion) is an essential skill for the believer. Recognizing thoughts and imaginations of the heart is a prerequisite of bringing them ‘captive to the obedience of Christ’.”

“All of us have had seasons when we feel we just can’t keep going; we just can’t take any more. As with every other of deception, the key to defeating this lie is to counter it with the truth. Regardless of what our emotions or our circumstances may tell us, God’s Word says, ‘My grace is sufficient for you’ (2 Corinthians 12:9).”

"People make their biggest mistake when they feel they can deal with the moral and emotional parts simply by walking out and saying they are not in love anymore… Sooner or later their miscalculation catches up with them. "

“When our marriage fell apart, it happened through my taking one little step at a time. I made tiny choices that all added up to two huge choices. I had to choose between my husband and my boyfriend, and I had to choose between God’s will and my own. Be warned that each emotional step you take will either be toward your spouse or away from him or her. Choose wisely.”

“It’s a lot easier to trash the marriage and for both parties to flee the difficulty of reconstructing the relationship. Yet to divorce now means that you only take all this unfinished business with you. It will require you to work on this by yourself. Should you refuse and try to bury it, it will contaminate all future relationships you might develop.”