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Reconciliation in marriage: in part 6 of our marriage devotional series, Aaron and Jennifer Smith explore what reconciliation truly means and why a thriving marriage needs it. We look at three senses of the word, restoring a relationship, bringing opposing views together and settling a debt, and show how Christ fulfills all three in the gospel. We talk about how sin creates distance, and why forgiveness can be given by one person while reconciliation requires two and genuine repentance. Through Jesus' parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18, we remind couples that those who have been forgiven an unpayable...

Sacrificial love in marriage: in part 5 of our marriage devotional series, Aaron and Jennifer Smith look to the cross to understand what it truly means to love sacrificially. Walking through Jesus' crucifixion in Matthew 27 and His prayer in Gethsemane, not what I will but what you will (Mark 14:36), we share the pivot point early in our marriage when, ready to give up, God used that prayer to convict Aaron to love Jennifer the way Christ loves His bride. We talk about why sacrificial love takes the initiative instead of waiting for a spouse to earn it, what...

Faith through infertility and a frightening prenatal diagnosis: Aaron Smith talks with Christin Rosa, author of Saving Nate. Christin shares the early struggles of her intercultural marriage to Mauricio, their season of infertility, and the day, 19 weeks pregnant with boy-girl twins, when they learned their son Nate had a severe congenital diaphragmatic hernia. Pressured by doctors to consider a reduction, they refused, declaring that they are people of life. Christin describes fiercely advocating for second opinions and treatment options within Canada's health system, how Nate, whose name means gift of God, survived against a 25 percent prognosis, and the...

Seeing your spouse as a gift from God: in part 4 of our 30-week marriage devotional series, Aaron and Jennifer Smith remind couples that marriage is one of God's greatest gifts. Starting with God bringing Eve to Adam because it was not good for man to be alone, and Proverbs 18:22, we talk about how your attitude reveals whether you are receiving your spouse with joy or rejecting the gift. We explore how gratitude and humility help us cherish, protect and display that gift, how forgiveness lets your spouse reflect God's grace, and how your marriage can be a gift...

Integrated faith in marriage and family is the focus of this conversation between Aaron Smith and Heath Hardesty, a former plumber's apprentice turned Silicon Valley pastor and author of All Things Together. Heath explains why apprenticeship to Jesus is the cure for a fragmented age: union with Christ leads to abiding, obeying, and being conformed into His image. He names the cultural disintegrations that leave us disenchanted, dissociated, and disembodied, and shows how media feeds can quietly catechize us. Heath and Aaron also talk about lament and joy, and Heath closes with seven practices for marriage and family: scriptural meditation,...

Servant leadership and biblical companionship are at the heart of week three of the Marriage After God devotional series. Aaron and Jennifer Smith explore the distinct yet complementary roles of husbands and wives, starting with Jesus washing His disciples' feet in John 13. Aaron challenges husbands to lead by example, initiating reconciliation, leading family Bible time, and living with their wives in an understanding way (1 Peter 3:7), using a swing-dancing picture of a lead who cues rather than yanks. Jennifer encourages wives to be supportive helpers and companions, sharing how her view of companionship changed and the day she...

Contentment, Ecclesiastes, and marriage come together in this conversation between Aaron Smith and Bobby Jamieson, a pastor, author, and church planter in Washington, D.C., and author of Everything Is Never Enough. Bobby explains that Ecclesiastes calls worldly pursuits like money, pleasure, and envy not just fleeting but absurd, because what our hearts crave never matches what the world gives back. The answer is receiving life as a gift rather than grasping for gain, accepting the lot God has given, and rejoicing in our toil. Applied to marriage, Bobby contrasts the self-focused quest with the other-focused toil of nurture, and they...

Did God design marriage? In week two of the Marriage After God devotional series, Aaron and Jennifer Smith make the case that marriage is God's intentional design, not a human invention, noting that only a small fraction of the animal kingdom is monogamous. Using the picture of Lego pieces that come with a manual, they explain that husbands and wives are equal in value but different in need, with men deeply needing respect and women needing love (Ephesians 5:33). They stress that your obedience to God is not contingent on your spouse's behavior, warn against becoming a stumbling block (Romans...

Family discipleship and catechesis are the focus as Aaron Smith talks with Trevin Wax and Thomas West, co-authors of The Gospel Way Catechism, a 50-question counter-catechism that confronts Western expressive individualism with the gospel. Drawing on missionary experience in Romania and London and the thinking of Lesslie Newbigin and Tim Keller, they explain that catechesis is happening whether we realize it or not, through Disney songs, ads, and social feeds, so families need to be just as intentional. They share a simple approach of connect, confront, and convert, encourage fathers who feel inadequate to lead, and urge believers to guard...

What is the purpose of marriage? Aaron and Jennifer Smith launch week one of their 30-week Marriage After God devotional series by teaching that humans uniquely long for purpose because we are made in God's image (Genesis 1:26-27). From Ephesians 5:25-33 they show that marriage exists to reflect the profound mystery of Christ and the church, a love story marked by true love, reconciliation, and forgiveness. They share how, early in their marriage and on the mission field in Zambia, they saw marriage and ministry as separate, and how they came to see their marriage itself as serving God as...