“And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed.” Malachi 2:15 (KJV)

A child that lives a committed Christian life is a great blessing, and his or her parents should be commended (Psalm 128:1-4). Other parents, however, unknowingly raise children who profess lip service to Christianity but actually belong to the devil in actions and doctrines, like the children of Eli. Let’s take a look at godless seed first.

I love my husband and I know he loves me, but he does not tell me “I love you” as much as I love him to. He believes saying it once a day should cover for the whole day. Am I being petty or simply saying what I am entitled to?

Some people express love primarily through words; others don’t. Since you know your husband loves you, evidently he conveys love some other way. Let him communicate love through his “love language,” whatever it is. And be satisfied.

Does he do things for you, such as open doors, take out the trash, or work his tail off five days a week? That is one of his ways of saying “I love you.”

Does he enjoy your company? Is he content to sit beside you and watch a TV show or listen to you talk about your day? That says “I love you” as well.

Does he touch you affectionately? Are you the delight of his eyes? Does he long to make love to you, to please you in the bedroom? That is yet another way of saying “I love you.”

On any given day, people are enrolling in the school of hard knocks and taking classes that studying the Word of God could have helped them avoid. Before I saw the light, innumerable bouts of low self-esteem made me a constant victim of betrayal. Like a bird that escaped from the snare of the deceptive fowler, the revelation of Psalm 146:3—“Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help”--turned my life around. As a result, I never fail to warn people that putting their trust in man is like putting water in a twice-perforated basket. The story below says it all.

When I landed in the United States on the morning of November 19, 2011, there is one thought that stuck in my mind: God is constant. I had arrived in a foreign country at 5 a.m. and found myself surrounded by so much unfamiliarity. I had nothing but a bag full of winter clothes, a piece of paper with an address, and some kind of nervous excitement.

I was desperate for something to hold onto, something to affirm that I was going to be OK. I had made an American friend along the way, and when we got to the airport, I kept looking at her for reassurance. Her smile put my heart at ease.

I had my first encounter with God in the face of a stranger-turned-friend. She quickly filled me in on the procedures and showed me which way to the visitors’ queue. Right there I thanked God for such precision and timeliness in having me meet this lovely girl at that moment.

This is an interesting question, and those who know me know that I love to teach and write about the family. Not too long ago, I read an article about undoing parenting mistakes, and the writer, Mark Gregston, said that he did a survey and many parents participated, offering some of the following comments:

I'm a firm believer that Jesus still heals the sick. He said, "be it unto you according to your faith," and for that reason, I believe, some people are healed miraculously, others by meds, and others not at all. Jesus placed mud on a blind man's eyes, not because he had to. Not because there were healing properties in dirt mixed with saliva. He knew that the blind man needed that, so He met him “where he was at.”

I've seen God heal a girl whose hips were out of socket. She received prayer the night before the surgery. The doctor was amazed. I’ve seen leukemia in a small boy healed, a lifeless embryo restored in the womb, dozens of warts disappear from a child's body…I've seen these things with my own eyes. When my children were little, if they got sick, they grabbed some olive oil and said, "Daddy, pray for me."

I totally respect these tips [“Three Things Your Husband Longs for You to Do,” Manna Confidential, December 2011]. But how do you respect and honor your husband if he won't stop cheating? I know God wants us to save our marriage, but is there a fine line when you just say “No more” and still honor God? AIDS is real, and spouses out there are risking their marriage and, most of all, an innocent person’s life if I stay and keep honoring a man who keeps being disobedient to Christ. How do you submit yourself sexually and basically give him what he wants when he's constantly betraying you? If he says I don't want to use protection and you refuse to give him what he wants because of the constant disappointments, is that your fault?

The recent suicide of 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer in Buffalo, New York, caught my attention, and rather than just read the news, sympathize for a while, and forget until another bullying death was reported, I knew I needed to teach a way to combat this monster.

Jamey, a high-school freshman, was the object of cyber attacks that went on for a year before he took his life in September 2011. Why did this handsome teenager allow anonymous bullies to shatter his dreams? His death deeply touched me, because for the past four years I have teaching teenagers in our church and can't imagine losing any one of them. I sympathize not only with Jamey's parents and friends but also with families around the globe who’ve lost loved ones to this curable killer disease called bullying.

Curable? Yes, I very much mean it.

We fuss, argue, nag, and express anger out loud--in front of our children! Many couples I’ve counseled admit that after an argument, many days and even weeks can go by in silence, remorse, and outright anger. Intimacy during times of bickering and disagreement is totally out of the question. One sleeps in bed and the other on the couch or in the spare bedroom. This demonic atmosphere, when it becomes a habit, is usually followed by the word divorce. We are told that one out of every two marriages ends up in divorce. That is your neighbor and my neighbor.

My husband works very hard and comes home tired almost every day. We do not really have an active social life. When we go on vacation, he spends the time sleeping. I hate to say this, but I am getting bored and beginning to detest this side of my husband. A pay cut and an active social life would be priceless at this time.

There’s a flaw in how you’re framing this problem: It’s all about you.

Step back a moment, and think about the man you married, this man you love. His behavior isn’t normal. I assume he hasn’t always been this way. What changed? When did it change? Do you know why?