Friday, November 14, 2008

Fireproof Your Marriage

How can two people make their marriage strong enough to withstand the challenges that they and their marriage will inevitably face over the course of decades? Fireproof, a recently relased movie from Sherwood Pictures, focuses on this question by telling the story of a firefighter and his wife who come the brink of divorce, but ultimately save their marriage. Last week, our Engaged Encounter marriage prep group spent some time discussing the movie and its implications for our marriages.

It is really wonderful that Sherwood Pictures was able to make this movie about two people who were able to save their marriage. Oftentimes in popular entertainment it seems that marriage is either portrayed as overly glamorous or as the but of sitcom jokes. Firestorm makes an effort to portray a real marriage, complete with real problems but also real love. Unlike many movies that only portray a secular marriage, Firestorm acknowledges that God can play a role in a marriage and argues that this marriage could not have bee saved without His help. I think that this is really a great statement about how great our lives and our marriages can be if we let God in, but how troubled we can become when we shut out God and those around us. In a sense the movie seems to tell the story of what happens when we open up to God and our spouse.

Hopefully many people can watch this movie and consider its implications for their lives. In our society where so many marriages end in divorce we really need this kind of message.