‘In the run up to our wedding, we were in a holy war’

Sharing her own personal story with disarming honesty, Hope Bonarcher is urgently praying for Christian marriages  

This month we celebrate Valentine’s Day, but since late last summer God’s had me praying intentionally for Christian marriages. As a married believer, I know firsthand the reality of being yoked together for a lifetime with another, always flawed, sometimes disastrous human (my husband does too). Nevertheless, I was perplexed when, last August, at an all-female Christian writer’s seminar, one after another disclosed they were currently separated or had come out of troubled, even abusive, marriages. These women were gentle, faith filled, glowing in their love for the Lord. It was nearly impossible to think of any man mistreating them. But the woeful tales around me of failing Christian marriages continue. Recently, within the space of just 30 minutes, I learned of one couple separating and another ending in divorce – both had faithful, Christian wives who were in ministry.