LYH45: 7 Signs to Know that You’re Married on Purpose

Married on Purpose

Show Agenda

  • Featured Presentation: 7 Signs to Know that You’re Married on Purpose

Featured Presentation

You can find the full blog post on this topic at haroldarnold.com/marriedonpurpose

Are you married on purpose?

It isn’t just about raising children well, accumulating material things, or even feeling happy. These are all aspects of being married. But, they aren’t the ultimate WHY God brought you and your spouse together.

In my work with couples and in my own marriage of more than twenty-six years, I have discovered seven signs that suggest your marriage is purposeful.

 

Seven Signs of a Purposeful Marriage

  1. Sign #1: Being married on purpose is an act of grace
  2. Sign #2: Being married on purpose is to tolerate the rationale and serve the relational
  3. Sign #3: Being married on purpose is to cultivate what God planted in your spouse
  4. Sign #4: Being married on purpose is to look inwardly and respond outwardly
  5. Sign #5: Being married on purpose is to unite your passions as a kingdom offering
  6. Sign #6: Being married on purpose is to accept that material things will never give your marriage meaning
  7. Sign # 7: Being married on purpose is to prioritize intimacy as an act of worship

I wish you God’s blessings as you embark upon demonstrating these signs in your own marriage. Leave me a comment and let me know which one resonates most for you personally.

What is easy and hard in being married on purpose?

Check out the blog post HERE to read more about this.

Please do me a huge favor and click HERE to go to iTunes and leave me a rating and review. It will only take 2 minutes of your time. And, it means so much to me. And, just for you, I’ll give you a shout out on the next show.

How to Know if You’re Married on Purpose

Are you married on purpose?

You may think of your children, having imagined finding your purpose in raising kids well as invested, partnered parents.

For some, purpose conjures images of artifacts — the diamond ring, the house, the hotel receipt from the 15th anniversary trip to Hawaii — that in our culture are indicators of marital success.

Some respond to the purpose question according to the level of emotional and sexual satisfaction they feel, at a given moment.

For all their merit, each of these falls short of the beauty found in purpose.

Being married on purpose is a daily decision to live in partnership and covenant. God has anointed your marriage to “good works” that are unique to your partnership. In my work with couples and in my own marriage of more than twenty-six years, I have discovered seven signs that suggest your marriage is purposeful. 

LYH44: The Forrest Gump Guide to Authenticity

Show Agenda

  • Featured Presentation: The Forrest Gump Guide to Authenticity
  • Daring Greatly – Dr. Brene Brown [affiliate link]
  • Leader Eat Last – Simon Sinek [affiliate link]
  • The War of Art – Steven Pressfield [affiliate link]

Featured Presentation

You can find the full blog post on this topic at haroldarnold.com/forrestgump

I love movies. In fact, movie watching has been a favorite hobby of mine for many years. In a true testament to how fast time flies, I recently realized that one of my favorite movies, Forrest Gump, celebrated its twentieth anniversary just this past year (2014).

What made Forrest Gump the blockbuster that was the top grossing film in North America that year and still ranks in iMDB as the 13th best movie of all time?

The Face of Authenticity

There are many reasons for its success including excellent actors, a creative story, and several really signature sound bytes that still carry a punch even twenty years later.

But, I believe there is one other factor that propelled Forrest Gump into the record books and cemented its place in American movie lore. 

That reason is authenticity.

  • Authenticity is what makes you uniquely you.
  • Authenticity is what allows you to wield influence in places inaccessible to everyone else.
  • Authenticity is a magnetic force that draws people towards you.

The Face of the Resistance

Your creativity, the very reason that God placed you here, is crumbling under the weight of doubt, regret, apathy, and guilt. Steven Pressfield in his book, The War of Art calls it “the Resistance”. In the Holy Bible, Saint Peter calls it “the Adversary”. It, in fact, goes by many names.

This Adversary is dark, evil, and intent on destroying your unique influence by accomplishing one single goal—making you a copycat.

  • The copycat feels accepted because he does what everyone else does and sounds like everyone else sounds.
  • The copycat doesn’t get targeted for criticism because he chooses to run with the pack rather than stand out.
  • The copycat feels comfortable because he stays in his zone, his comfort zone where he is safe.

The problem, of course, is that the copycat is a fraud. God did not make any copycat. Not one. Copycats are human derivations.

What is your favorite line from Forrest Gump? What connections do you see between the movie and your own call?

Check out the blog post HERE to read more about this.

Please do me a huge favor and click HERE to go to iTunes and leave me a rating and review. It will only take 2 minutes of your time. And, it means so much to me. And, just for you, I’ll give you a shout out on the next show.

The Forrest Gump Guide to Authenticity

I love movies. In fact, movie watching has been a favorite hobby of mine for many years. In a true testament to how fast time flies, I recently realized that one of my favorite movies, Forrest Gump, celebrated its twentieth anniversary just this past year (2014). That is certainly hard to believe. This unorthodox romantic-comedy-drama  chronicles the coming of age story of Forrest Gump (played by actor Tom Hanks) who doesn’t realize that he is mentally “disadvantaged” according to societal conventions. His uncanny optimism, encouraged from a young age by the unwavering positivity of his mom, led him on an amazing journey that influenced the lives of everyone with whom he came in contact.

What made Forrest Gump the blockbuster that was the top grossing film in North America that year and still ranks in iMDB as the 13th best movie of all time? What is it about this low I.Q. hero’s story that captured Best Actor, Best Director, and the vaunted price of Best Picture that year? In 2011, what the Library of Congress to select Forrest Gump for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.

The Face of Authenticity

There are many reasons for its success including excellent actors, a creative story (which at the time I didn’t know was actually based on the 1986 novel by Winston Groom), and several really signature sound bytes that still carry a punch even twenty years later. But, I believe there is one other factor that propelled Forrest Gump into the record books and cemented its place in American movie lore.

That reason is authenticity.

LYH43: The Day “I” Died: 5 Affirmations to Live God’s Will [PODCAST]

Show Agenda

Featured Presentation

You can find the full blog post on this topic at haroldarnold.com/idied

Don’t doubt in the dark what God gives you in the light.” – anonymous

Pastor Rick Warren starts his NY Times bestselling book, “The Purpose-driven life” (affiliate link) with what for me has become one of the most influential sentences ever written. It goes like this “It’s not about you.”  This timeless book challenges me to re-orient the starting point of my dreams from my own happiness to God’s pleasure. For me, that has changed everything—a turning point. That was the day “I” died.

My “I” (and yours) has to die because it stands between you and God’s will for you. Here are a few examples:

  • “I” focuses on himself as the starting point.
  • “I” sets self-serving goals—intended to stroke his ego.
  • ”I” defines his own parameters for success—based on his own aspirations.
  • “I” misses or rather ignores Pastor Rick Warren’s assertion that it isn’t about him because it threatens his very existence.
  • The frustration, desperation, anxiety in my life (and you in yours) are the work of “I”.

But, here are the five daily affirmations to bury your “I”.