News / Education
Hurricane doesn’t keep 200 couples from a Great Marriage Experience
Marriage seminar helps couple understand gender roles
The Rosbergs, from Des Moines, Iowa, are authors, hosts of a daily radio program, marriage conference speakers and cofounders of America’s Family Coaches ministry.
At the beginning of the conference, Gary Rosberg told the audience, "Your marriage is not about you. It’s about Jesus Christ."
Marriage was created by God, but culture has tried to take it away by saying marriage is temporary and unnecessary and sex with anyone, anytime is OK. "When culture says that there is no hope for your marriage, that is not God speaking," he said. "It’s the enemy of God speaking."
"God will give you a vibrant marriage if you have a teachable heart," Gary Rosberg said. "God has a plan for your marriage, but the enemy of God has a plan for it as well. It takes intentionality and it takes support from our churches.
"Churches should be saying ‘we’re not going to let culture usurp our marriages,’" he continued. "We can’t let ourselves be sucker-punched by culture any longer. We have to stand up for biblical marriage."
Marriage saboteurs
Barb Rosberg listed six saboteurs of marriage:
--Allowing conflict to go unresolved
--Being "I" centered instead of "we" centered
--Being walk-away wives and husbands
--Giving in to temptation
--Lacking joy in the relationship
--Being stuck in the same old routine
"God’s Word has the answer to what is bothering you in your marriage," she said.
Gary Rosberg said that statistically, most divorces happen in the third year of marriage. Another tenuous time is during years 15-18. The solution, he said, is "You just don’t bail. You stay. Commit to the relationship as a non-negotiable. No one said it would be easy or trouble free, but you don’t give up; you hang on to the cross of Jesus."
Barb Rosberg said it’s interesting to note that when husbands and wives take the attitude of serving each other they begin to try to ‘out serve’ each other. "Marriage is not about getting from each other; it’s about giving to each other."
The fact that men and women are created differently is no surprise to anyone. Speaking to the husbands in the group, Barb Rosberg reminded them that women need to be shown LUV. "That means you are listening, understanding and validating. When a woman feels honored in this way by her husband, she feels incredible."
The Rosbergs said they believe there is a secret to improving any marriage. "This works every time," Gary Rosberg said. "If you will just talk for 20 minutes a day I can guarantee you that your marriage will go to the next level."
"When you get home from work, take 20 minutes and sit in your chairs, at your table, somewhere comfortable and quiet," Barb Rosberg said. "Tell your children that this is your mom and dad time. Then just talk about your day. That way, at the dinner table, you can have your time with the children to talk about their day and you have already had that special time with your spouse."
"I got conflict, you got conflict, all God’s children got conflict," Gary Rosberg said. "It’s not a matter of IF conflict comes up in your marriage. It’s WHEN conflict comes up. Then it’s how you deal with it."
They listed four elements of conflict: Criticism, contempt, defensiveness, stonewalling, and withdrawing.
"These elements are real," Barb Rosberg said. "You have to be careful and not injure your spouse."
"When you can depersonalize conflict and just look at the issue, you can work on the conflict in a constructive way," Gary Rosberg said. "Hurt is the primary emotional response to conflict in a marriage, then anger comes in as the result of the hurt.
"Unresolved anger can really trip up a Christian couple," he said. "It takes you places you don’t want to go. Bitterness and resentment can eat you alive."
But forgiveness creates a clean heart, he noted. For forgiveness to happen, four sentences are necessary from the offending party, Gary Rosberg said:
--I am wrong.
--I am sorry.
--I don’t want to hurt you again.
--Will you forgive me?
"You can’t leave out any of those steps for the forgiveness to be complete."
The Rosbergs will lead two more Great Marriage Experience events in 2008: Sept. 13 in Orlando, Fla., and Sept. 27 in Plano, Texas. For more information go to www.lifeway.com/rosbergs. To discover marriage resources, including the Great Marriage Experience video series, available from the Rosbergs, go to www.lifeway.com or www.lifewaystores.com.
For up-to-date news and information from LifeWay Christian Resources, visit www.lifeway.com/news.
