Show Agenda

• Featured Presentation: Five Ways to Thrive in Your Cross-cultural Marriage
• Cross-cultural Marriage Series I wrote for Focus on the Family
• Lesson Principle: Cross-cultural marriage must be defined by GRACE

Featured Presentation

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

All couples struggle to integrate their personality differences, competing interests, varying emotional needs and divergent conflict resolution styles into one healthy marriage. For couples who layer distinct cultural backgrounds onto this mix, effective communication is even more critical.

GRACE: The Secret Sauce

Grace, modeled by Christ’s death on the cross, must be the bridge for the cross-cultural couple. Couples often miss each other in their efforts to cross the chasms of their differences. Graceful acts redeem their interaction – giving it purpose beyond their personal and cultural expectations.

I would like to offer G-R-A-C-E as a practical acrostic to help the cross-cultural couple surmount communication challenges. This five-step process emphasizes a mutual pursuit of grace in the form of God-inspired human action:

• G: Give your spouse the benefit of the doubt.
• R: Risk being honest
• A: Accept your spouse’s feelings at face value
• C: Complain without criticizing.
  
• E: Embrace your differences.

I talk about G.R.A.C.E. as paramount for cross-cultural couples. And, it is. But, the reality is that these are also the keys for all couples.

Leave me a comment and let me know how you have successfully embraced G.R.A.C.E. in your marriage. What has made it difficult at times?

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