{"id":3014,"date":"2015-04-30T09:48:14","date_gmt":"2015-04-30T14:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithonthecouch\/?p=3014"},"modified":"2015-04-30T09:48:14","modified_gmt":"2015-04-30T14:48:14","slug":"want-to-bring-the-world-to-christ-strengthen-your-marriage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithonthecouch\/2015\/04\/want-to-bring-the-world-to-christ-strengthen-your-marriage\/","title":{"rendered":"Want to Bring the World to Christ?  Strengthen Your Marriage!"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/335\/2014\/12\/shutterstock_234539329.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-2779\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/335\/2014\/12\/shutterstock_234539329-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"shutterstock_234539329\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>People seem to think that working on their marriage is somehow self-serving or selfish. But the Theology of the Body reminds us that people aren\u2019t converted by words and concept and arguments. They are converted by an encounter with the love the comes from God\u2019s own heart\u2013the free, total, faithful fruitful love Catholic couples are called to witness to in their dynamic, passionate, joyful, grace-filled marriage and family lives.\u00a0<br data-reactid=\".3.1:3:1:$comment10206345007808628_10206345175172812:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$1:0\"> <br data-reactid=\".3.1:3:1:$comment10206345007808628_10206345175172812:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$3:0\"> <span data-reactid=\".3.1:3:1:$comment10206345007808628_10206345175172812:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$4:0\">Couples don\u2019t have to be perfect, but if they are committed to learning how to live God\u2019s love for each other in good times and bad\u2026, they will be a powerful witness that will turn hearts to God. We need to be the Church that makes people say (to paraphrase Tertullian), \u201cLook at those Catholic couples and families! See how they love one another!\u201d<\/span><br data-reactid=\".3.1:3:1:$comment10206345007808628_10206345175172812:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$5:0\"> <br data-reactid=\".3.1:3:1:$comment10206345007808628_10206345175172812:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$7:0\"> <span data-reactid=\".3.1:3:1:$comment10206345007808628_10206345175172812:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$8:0\">God wants to change the world through our marriages. When we work on those relationships, we help him change the world through our witness of love.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Check out these <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Gregory-K.-Popcak\/e\/B001JS8324\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">marriage-building resources<\/a> or contact the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.exceptionalmarriages.com\/services\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Pastoral Solutions Institute to learn more about our tele-counseling practice<\/a>. \u00a0You and your spouse can be the loving witness you were meant to be.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>People seem to think that working on their marriage is somehow self-serving or selfish. But the Theology of the Body reminds us that people aren\u2019t converted by words and concept and arguments. They are converted by an encounter with the love the comes from God\u2019s own heart\u2013the free, total, faithful fruitful love Catholic couples are [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1437,"featured_media":2779,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,54],"tags":[461,460],"class_list":["post-3014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marriage","category-relationship","tag-evangelism","tag-evangelize"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Want to Bring the World to Christ? Strengthen Your Marriage!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"People seem to think that working on their marriage is somehow self-serving or selfish. 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