{"id":9117,"date":"2017-04-03T06:00:49","date_gmt":"2017-04-03T10:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=9117"},"modified":"2017-04-01T09:34:08","modified_gmt":"2017-04-01T13:34:08","slug":"broken-marriage-cant-fixed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/04\/broken-marriage-cant-fixed.html","title":{"rendered":"It&#8217;s Too Broken, This Marriage Can&#8217;t Be Fixed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-9136\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2017\/04\/character-1797362_1920-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"character-1797362_1920\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/>&#8220;It&#8217;s too broken. Nothing can fix this relationship.&#8221;\u00a0<\/strong>This statement has been repeated by couples all over the country.\u00a0The truth is, it&#8217;s never too late to fix a broken relationship with God in the equation . I know that sounds like a clich\u00e9 but it isn&#8217;t. Here&#8217;s why.<\/p>\n<p><u>At the root of our relationship struggles is a\u00a0\u00a0spiritual battle<\/u>. Satan&#8217;s plan is to steal, kill and destroy. If he can get you so wrapped up with your own unhappiness and the flaws of your spouse, you won&#8217;t see the battle against principalities and powers\u00a0that needs to be fought.So when the relationship feels too broken, consider the following before giving up:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><u>God is on your side<\/u>. Go to Him when you feel hopeless. He has a long history of helping the defeated become victorious. Prayer and intercession change relationships. When couples humble themselves and present themselves to God, hearts can change. But this requires a full step of surrender and willingness to continue to try.<\/li>\n<li><u>It is never too late to make changes<\/u>. In God&#8217;s eyes, you are not condemned for past behavior once it is confessed, and true repentance follows. But as a couple, you have to offer this same forgiveness and willingness to move forward with out constantly looking back. Don&#8217;t live in the past or feed off of old guilt. If you truly confess and forgive, give each other grace to change and make a new start.<\/li>\n<li><u>Seek God and you will find Him<\/u>. He wants to be involved. Let Him. Seek His face first and He will transform each of you, which will result in a transformed marriage. When couples agree to pray together on a regular basis, change occurs. In broken marriages, the hurt and anger is so big, praying together is the last thing couples want to do. Yet, this is a powerful fix.<\/li>\n<li><u>Be led by His Spirit. Listen for His voice and keep your heart soft<\/u>. He will speak to you and give guidance. It is not the heart of God for couples to divorce. He will give you wisdom and direction in terms of repair if you ask for His help and seek godly counsel. And trained marital therapists know what it takes to repair a broken marriage.<\/li>\n<li><u>Believe in the God of the possible<\/u>. He created you and sent His Son to redeem you. Don&#8217;t give up. Expect a miracle. All things are possible to them that believe. I know reconciliation requires the willingness of two people in a relationship. And when I ask both partners if they are willing to believe for what feels impossible at the moment, one may say NO, This makes it tough to proceed. But the power of a praying spouse can change a heart.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you stay intimately connected to God, your marriage will reflect that intimacy. God wants you to honor your marital covenant.\u00a0Don&#8217;t give up. Get help from a Christian therapist. I have seen even the most broken relationships mended and repaired.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s too broken. Nothing can fix this relationship.&#8221;\u00a0This statement has been repeated by couples all over the country.\u00a0The truth is, it&#8217;s never too late to fix a broken relationship with God in the equation . I know that sounds like a clich\u00e9 but it isn&#8217;t. Here&#8217;s why. At the root of our relationship struggles is&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[913],"tags":[2025,132,125,1145],"class_list":["post-9117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-couple-relationships","tag-couples-relationships","tag-divorce","tag-marriage","tag-separation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>It&#039;s Too Broken, This Marriage Can&#039;t Be Fixed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/04\/broken-marriage-cant-fixed.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"It&#039;s Too Broken, This Marriage Can&#039;t Be Fixed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&#8220;It&#8217;s too broken. Nothing can fix this relationship.&#8221;\u00a0This statement has been repeated by couples all over the country.\u00a0The truth is, it&#8217;s never too late to fix a broken relationship with God in the equation . I know that sounds like a clich\u00e9 but it isn&#8217;t. Here&#8217;s why. At the root of our relationship struggles is&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/04\/broken-marriage-cant-fixed.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-04-03T10:00:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-04-01T13:34:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2017\/04\/character-1797362_1920-300x200.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"It's Too Broken, This Marriage Can't Be Fixed","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/04\/broken-marriage-cant-fixed.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"It's Too Broken, This Marriage Can't Be Fixed","og_description":"&#8220;It&#8217;s too broken. 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Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. 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