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"Sacred Marriage" by Gary Thomas

Most of us weren’t made to think that marriage is a way towards Godliness, a way towards holiness.  Gary Thomas, in his book “Sacred Marriage,” reasons through the practical Christian life with his and other marriage examples.  The main purpose of this book is to show what marriage is all about: “the real purpose of marriage may not be happiness as much as it is holiness” (22-23, italics added).

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Thomas gives enough examples to the readers, common problem that usually occurs among the families do to a wrong pursues.  In the first couple of years, spouses are trying to build relationship, romance is usually the big part of marriage, but with a misunderstanding about what marriage is all about, marriage becomes a struggle.  Thomas gives example of his own life: “The joyful exploration of our honeymoon; filling out a preliminary application for a mission organization; bringing our first child home—but now, ten years later, we had ‘evolved’ into spending Friday nights watching other people fall in love according to the machinations of Hollywood script. . . ‘When did, ‘Please, God, change the world through us’ suddenly become, ‘Should we watch Arnold Schwarzenegger or Julia Roberts?’” (19).  

In his book, he talks about the call for Holiness; how marriage reflects God and exposes our sin; how the school of marriage teaches us to love, respect others, forgive, and have a servant’s heart; Thomas also speaks of difficulties that are embraced, along with good prayers promoted; spiritual discipline and sexuality can be developed all this is to be more aware of God’s presence; and the final chapter of the book talks about our spiritual calling, mission, and purpose that marriage that can be develop. 

Another words, marriage is a place not only a strive for pleasure and happiness, but a call to be holy—and that requires much more then just an attitude. Marriage is a place for redeemed heart to practice and express character of Christ. “If you want to be free to serve Jesus, there’s no question—stay single. Marriage takes a lot of time. But if you want to become more like Jesus, I can’t imagine any better thing to do than to get married. Being married forces you to face some character issues you’d never have to face otherwise.” (p. 21)

About the Author
“Thomas is the author of Authentic Faith, Sacred Parenting, Sacred Pathways, Sacred Influence, and hundreds of articles for Christian magazines. He is a frequent guest on Focus on the Family and Family Life Today radio programs and also teaches at Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon. His books and his ministry focus on spiritual formation: how can we integrate Scripture, church history, and the time-tested wisdom of the Christian classics to transform our modern experience."  Thomas and his family use to live in Bellingham, WA but recently move to Houston, TX.

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