Are you equipped with the right marriage skills for your christian dating? Why not learn the skills now while you are still dating? Since we would not expect you to become a successful violinist, plumber or watch maker without careful preparation and seriously working at our jobs.

Neither will we be successful in our marriages without the training and marriage skills which can result only from serious and continuous effort while dating!

Relationships often fail because most people take the same attitude toward their marriage as does the owner of a car. The ordinary drivers know that to operate their car, they must do some things. They must start it, shift gears, steer, and stop.

They must provide it with gas, oil, water and air. But after they have done these few simple tasks, they expect the car to do the rest. When they puts their feet on the starter, he expects it to start. When they take it on a trip, they expects it to purr along without trouble, so long as it is filled up.

If it breaks down, he will probably feel baffled and possibly resentful. It is not their job to service the car. It is the job of the car to give them what they want and expect, without too much effort or expense on their part.

The attitude of the garage mechanics are quite different. To begin with, they feel a different kind of responsibility. They must not merely get service from the car, but make sure that the car gets the kind of service which will make it run properly. They not only drives and rides — They also are alerted for any kind of trouble which might become serious.

They keep the car not only fed, but tuned up and adjusted. Breakdowns do not appear as outrageous surprises. Their job is to fix things when they go wrong.

And since they understands the car, he can respond to trouble creatively. Instead of feeling baffled and bewildered, they finds out the nature of the difficulty and have the knowledge and the skills to correct it.

The satisfactions of a successful marriage are not to be had merely by performing a few simple tasks, such as feeding a man, dressing up the children, or paying the bills.

If a marriage is to function well it must be kept in constant adjustment and repair by people who understand it and are willing to put in the amount of study and effort which is required, ie your pastors. When breakdowns occur, as they will, you should know enough about the situation so that you will not be floored by them.

You should know enough to be able to spot the difficulty and fix it. Keeping a marriage in good running order is a real job which requires hard work. Yet work alone is not enough. Success in marriage also requires intelligent understanding and effective marriage skills.