August 18, 2024 — Episode #33

Content note: this episode discusses domestic abuse at length, including physical, emotional, economic, spiritual, and briefly sexual abuse, and shares a national abuse hotline number.

Jerry and Becky Drace explore why couples pick fights in the first place — and how the need to always be right or in control can be an early warning sign of abuse.

They discuss how power struggles, going back to Adam and Eve and to Cain and Abel, show up in marriages as spiritual, physical, or emotional bids for control, and how patterns of aggression are often inherited from the home someone grew up in. They walk through five types of abuse — physical, sexual, emotional, economic, and spiritual — describe warning signs to watch for while dating, and share the National Domestic Violence Hotline number for anyone currently in an abusive situation. They close with the picture of a marriage as a three-strand cord, strongest when Christ is the third strand.

Topics discussed:

• Why couples pick fights and the desire for control
• Recognizing patterns of abuse learned in childhood
• Five types of abuse: physical, sexual, emotional, economic, and spiritual
• The National Domestic Violence Hotline
• Warning signs of an aggressive personality while dating
• Proverbs 15:1 and Ephesians 5:29
• The “three-strand cord” picture of a Christ-centered marriage

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or directly via our podcast RSS feed. See the full episode archive for more.