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As I have sat with couples and tried to help them work through various issues, it has shocked me to find how many have never learned to settle conflict well. Much of this stems from their first years and their failure to get well grounded in conflict resolution. To that end, here are a few suggestions on resolving conflict in marriage.

The U.S. and Europe, from where most missionaries have been sent over the last century, have a little over a billion people combined. The areas of the world still hardest to reach have about 5 billion people. And a lot of the places that need the gospel most are places we can’t go. For many of us, making Jesus known may look less like crossing an ocean, and more like putting our prayers, money, and skills behind someone who can go farther than we can. So the question is: What am I doing to make Jesus known where he’s not known? How can I use my life—my church, job, knowledge, finances, family, friendships, to reach those who haven’t heard?

Teenagers ask questions. Sometimes they ask us. Sometimes they ask an AI chatbot, a group chat, or a corner of the internet that’s over-confident and not especially wise. So, let’s bless them for asking and get ready to walk with them. We need to consider questions about these four categories: truth, future, empathy, and authority.

While the full picture may not be clear until we meet the Creator, seasons of pain reveal a simple reality: some people bear the weight of others’ suffering well, while others, often without intending to, do not. From that perspective, a few grounded observations may help us understand those who are hurting and avoid responding in ways that unintentionally deepen their pain when it matters most.

Paths our culture offers to the good life are often combined. Your sense of how good a person you are is measured by a mixture of how long you’ve engaged in therapy, how many hours you volunteer at your children’s school, and how long your streak is on your mindfulness app. So, what path does Christianity offer to assure us we’re living a good and righteous life?

For now, we don’t see Christ as clearly, as immediately as we one day will when we see him face to face. But while we don’t see him fully or exhaustively, we do see him genuinely. Where or how do we see him? As we open our Bibles. We behold him in shadows in the Old Testament and in substance in the New Testament.

Recently I’ve been asking myself a simple question: What am I reaching for? My phone the moment I wake up. An energy drink before I’ve even fully opened my eyes. My wallet when I think buying one more thing might make life just a little better. These things aren’t inherently bad. They may not even be a crutch for you. But I’ve become increasingly convinced that there is something deeper beneath them. What we reach for often reveals what we depend on.

Can we have a delightful marriage now and still be joyful that the time will come when we will no longer be married to one another? Yes, when we elevate our gaze, when we realize that marriage is not the reality but the model, the promise, the demonstration.

We know God is holy and God is powerful. And God sees all and knows all, so our sin and failures live always before him. We think, therefore, he must also be exacting and harsh. But Jesus lived and taught in a way that showed God is not harsh. The rest of the Bible shows this too. Which means every Christian must ask the uncomfortable question: if God is more happy than harsh…am I?

Since the fall, humans have been tempted toward voyeurism. We struggle to resist turning our attention to the lurid, the scandalous, the taboo; our eyes can’t look away from spectacular crashes, whether literal crashes or personal collapses.  How should Christians respond to a mass-media environment where temptations to unedifying voyeurism are everywhere? Here are a few ideas.