From Coasting to Thriving: Deepening Faith for a Stronger Marriage

The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches , and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. Luke 8:14-15 

When I was a kid, I loved to go to the local festival that would be put on every year. Our whole family would meet and spend time together, ride some attractions, and eat incredible food (including lots of funnel cake).

Every year at the festival, we would play the same game and take home the same prize – a real goldfish. I would put it in a bowl, decorate its new home, and feed it. When I did this, my fish would grow, stay healthy, and, most importantly, stay alive. But, after a few weeks, I would forget to feed him for a couple of days or not realize I hadn’t cleaned his bowl, and eventually, he would die. When I coasted as a young fish-owner, the fish would not survive.

We can treat our spiritual lives like this. We can focus on things like reading God’s Word, spending time in prayer, and surrounding ourselves with people who push us closer to Him. Those are all good things that lead us to grow spiritually and stay healthy. But after some time, we can lose our focus. We realize we don’t give God the importance and priority he deserves. Fairly quickly, our relationship with God can begin to deteriorate. Our relationship with God is not one where we can spend a few weeks focused on Him and the next few weeks on cruise control. We must always take care and pay attention to it to keep it from deteriorating. That is sadly common in couples with a restored marriage. They begin to coast in their spiritual lives and then realize they are not only growing away from God, but growing away from one another. 

How do we stop the coasting?

One of the best ways to do this is by challenging yourself spiritually. Often, we can find ourselves in a place of comfort in our spiritual lives. Comfortable with how much time we spend in God’s Word or in prayer to the point where we can stunt our growth. The Bible challenges us to deepen our faith by moving from “elementary teachings to maturity.”

But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God. Hebrews 5:14-6:1 

Dr. Thomas Constable, the founder of Dallas Seminary’s Field Education Department and the Center for Biblical Studies, says, “When we stop growing, we start shrinking. We do not simply stay the same.” There is no middle ground for us to spend time in. Either we are growing and maturing or falling further away because of complacency.

We must give constant care and attention to our faith. It must be a deep faith. One that can withstand the many trials and problems we face in this broken world. A deep faith is a faith that relies entirely on God—trusting in His infinite power, intelligence, and love. 

The only way we can achieve this level of faith is by staying focused and consistent on what God has called us to do, and that is to follow Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We must fight the desires our flesh has at times to focus on other things this world has to offer, and we must stay consistently focused on our relationship with God. If we commit to growing and maturing each day, we will not fall away from the truths of God’s Word, especially when life becomes challenging. 

When two people are committed to each other and to having a deep relationship with God, you will see a marriage that will survive.

God bless,