Who are your marriage role models? The number of couples choosing to get married is plummeting. Good, solid marriages are less common than they used to be. Maybe YOUR marriage has been a role model for others – or maybe you would like to be.

I finally discovered my wife’s biggest turn-on. I must confess I’d never been a fan of Gary Chapman’s book "The 5 Love Languages" before this incident. Initially, the whole concept felt contrived. I wasn’t buying it. That is, until that moment in the kitchen...

My father returned from the war with ten quid in his pocket. He’d been flying Spitfires and Hurricanes over Europe and later in Burma. He was invalided out, worn out by what he’d seen and done.

A new book, “The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind”, shows just how starkly a child’s success in life can be affected based on whether he grows up with married parents or a single parent.

It’s commonly accepted today that first marriages have a greater success rate when delayed. If we dig a bit deeper, however, we find this conventional wisdom regarding delayed marrying has its flaws. Certain factors are at play in the success of all marriages.

Masculine men are the very thing we need — now more than ever in the battle of traditionalism versus progressivism. Though the media has attacked the vital value of gender itself, we know they’re wrong. We know male and female is how we’re made.

Couples who go the distance in marriage are those who have learnt to repair early and often. They still have disagreements, tiffs, and other challenges to their connection, but they catch it before it escalates.

Marriages are always stronger when a couple are looking forward to building a better future together by learning from their mistakes, rather than backward-looking and focused on the past failings of the other.

Easter Sunday – the high point of the Christian calendar celebrating Christ’s resurrection from the dead. What does this day, this event, have to teach us as married couples?

In any relationship, especially in marriage, its strength and quality can be measured by the depth and sincerity of the intimacy we share. For any couple to have sustained and vibrant intimacy, one that increases in depth and meaning, proactive investment is required.

Stonewalling – aka ‘the silent treatment’ – is common in many marriages. Never helpful and poorly understood, we ignore it at our risk.

The heart-warming new film "The Great Escaper" has been in cinemas across Australia since Thursday. My wife and I don’t get to the movies all that often, but "The Great Escaper" looks like an instant classic, if the trailer is anything to go by.

One way that couples can actively build connection and re-establish the excitement of sexual anticipation is through the ‘Connect Kiss’. This simple practice takes a mere 20 seconds a day: ten in the morning and ten in the evening.

Becoming a single parent was not part of my long-term life plan, and I would venture to say that most single mothers and fathers would agree, but like I always say, “We all have a story.”

Criticism kills. It crushes self-confidence and poisons the trust between us. It also smothers self-growth by directing our energies to the wrong thing – what the other did or said, rather than our internal reaction.

Defensiveness is a self-protective response to a perceived judgement, criticism, rejection, or risk of future disappointment. While it is a natural reaction, ironically, it rarely protects our hearts.

Every engaged couple needs to discern their own path. Downsize, divide, delay, or go deluxe – whatever path they decide in this era of uncertainty, the vows they make on their wedding day will be one thing that stays the same.

Modern relationships are plagued by busyness. And when our relationship is neglected, we often end up arguing during the little time we do spend together. With Valentine’s Day approaching, it’s the perfect opportunity to give the gift of time.

Paul the apostle warned people that “those who marry will face many troubles in this life”. That’s the reality of marriage. Always has been and always will be.

Inherent to the New Year resolution is the idea of becoming a better person. No sane person aspires to drink more or learn how to smoke as a New Year goal. Yet, so many of us fail to create the permanent change in ourselves that we seek. Why is that?