Christian Marriage the Workbook

WHAT ARE SAFE COMMUNICATION SKILLS? WHAT'S THE GOAL OF SAFE COMMUNICATION SKILLS? The goal of Safe Communication Skills is for you to become the most encouraging, most supportive, most caring, most magnanimous, most loving listener-friend-companion your spouse has ever known. The Safe Communications Skills have been time-proven internationally for decades to be effective tools, essential in creating an atmosphere that generates genuine, rewarding, productive "relationship" communication. These tools accommodate what could be described as ideal communication, a communication style that nourishes not only the marriage relationship and intimacy, but also builds in each person character, trust, faith and confidence and a fresh sense of freedom and joy. It's all about Love (Charity KJV).

The Bible says God is Love (1 John 4: 8). Genesis tells us that God created us in His image, Love. Thus, it should be safe to conclude that it would be only thru genuine love relationships that we will truly flourish in joy and experience personal contentment. Love is our highest expression of who we are and why we exist.

The purpose of this workbook is to assist couples in experiencing the joy and contentment that are available for us when we daily-actively place our love relationship with our spouse above all else except for our love relationship with God. God will help as we persist in pursuing a deeper understanding of his Love. Accordingly, CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE study Sessions focus not only on our marriage relationship, but also focus on our knowledge of God, our love for God, and our submission to God. Colossians 2: 2-3 (NASB)...that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Fish for the apostles represented security and survival, sustenance, economic capital for daily living. When they were exhausted after fishing all night having caught no fish, Jesus joins in telling them to go again and to now cast their nets into the deep waters. They obeyed and their catch of fish overflowed their boats. The analogy of course is that to experience Jesus as an active, fulfilling, powerful reality in our marriages and lives, we must cast our nets into deep waters. While some CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE Sessions may seem intense, we have integrated safe communication skills which will take you gently-gradually into deeper and increasingly-wonderful-intimacy with each other and with God. God (Love) is gentle, patient, kind, forgiving, full of mercy and grace.