How to prevent a boring marriage
Have you ever felt bored in your marriage? It’s not that your spouse is boring or anything. You just feel stuck in the monotony of another week hustling between work, home, the gym, and all the other priorities filling your calendar.
You’re feeling the pressure of paying off that debt, saving for the down payment on a house, adding a little one to the family, or any of the other things your relatives ask you about every Thanksgiving. You’re busy but bored, and you’re desperate to break through and live the full life Jesus promised in John 10:10.
You’re busy but bored, and you’re desperate to break through.
If you’re ready to break the monotony, it might be time to take a mission trip.
Going on a mission trip will radically change your life and worldview. Mission trips open our eyes to how God’s kingdom is advancing and what Jesus meant when He called us to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).
A Family on a Mission
When Tammy and I first started dating, one area where we connected was our passion for expanding the kingdom in all nations. As single people, we found joy in serving others through missions so we connected by sharing stories of how God had worked powerfully in our lives through those trips.
When I proposed to Tammy in September 2014, part of my sales pitch was a vision of our family spreading the Gospel in our city, our state, and our world for generations to come. But it wasn’t long before family and financial goals filled our checklist ahead of taking our first mission trip together.
We felt God calling us to pay off all our current debt, begin saving for a down payment on a house, and start building an emergency fund. These were good goals that would help us avoid going back into debt and set our family up for success. But the dream of a family on a mission to spread the Gospel felt like a future reality more than a part of our everyday lives.
That all began to change in 2017 when I got the opportunity to co-lead a mission trip to Cambodia. Tammy and I knew God was calling us to make this bold move, so we decided to take Him at His Word and push pause on some of our other family priorities.
Matthew 6:31-34 says, “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches his followers to seek the kingdom of God first, and trust Him to take care of everything else. Not long after deciding to make the trip, God blessed us with the finances to make it possible. We were able to take a week off of our normal jobs to encourage and strengthen a church in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Family Is Our Mission
Once we arrived in Cambodia, Tammy and I began to immediately experience the special privilege of taking a mission trip as a married couple.
In Ephesians 5, the apostle Paul gives instructions to both husbands and wives on how to love each other by using the powerful example of how Jesus loves the church. Just by the way we showed visible love to each other throughout the trip, Tammy and I were able to preach the Gospel through our marriage.
The way we spoke to one another, the way we treated each other, the way we loved one another, our common Faith in Jesus, and the purity in marriage between a husband and a wife all worked together to preach the Gospel through our marriage.
The experience was a great reminder to both of us not to discount ourselves because we are young, “but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12).
Any marriage built on His foundation sets a good example to believers of all ages and generations.
Even though we are young and have only been married for three years, God is able to work through us. Any marriage built on His foundation sets a good example to believers of all ages and generations.
Romans 12:9-13 tells us to “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”
Serving on a mission trip together opened our eyes and hearts to the opportunities to serve anywhere. After our trip to Cambodia, we discovered new ways to put the Gospel on display in our marriage through being connected in a Group, serving in KidSpring and Fuse, and viewing our own neighborhood as our mission field
A Christian’s life and marriage are meant to be anything but boring. If you and your spouse want to tighten the knot, taking a mission trip together is a great place to start.
Make a bold move today and apply for a mission trip with your spouse.