Focus on the Family with Jim Daly How to Break Bad Habits and Cultivate a Healthy Marriage (Part 1 of 2)
Jan 14, 2026
Dr. Randy Schroeder, a licensed marriage and family therapist and author of Simple Habits for Marital Happiness, shares invaluable insights on cultivating a healthy marriage. He emphasizes the power of forgiveness as the foundation for lasting happiness and warns against the dangers of secrets and sarcasm. Randy highlights the importance of self-reflection and transforming conflict into solution-focused discussions. He provides practical strategies, such as weekly giving questions and healing rituals, to strengthen relationships and build trust.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Practice Forgiveness As Gift And Promise
- Forgive your spouse as a gift and a promise, and then avoid bringing up the forgiven wrong again.
- Treat forgiveness as a process that may require daily commitment and God's help.
Unrepaired Hurts Poison Marriage Health
- Unrepaired hurts act like divots or dirty plates, slowly making a marriage barren or poisonous.
- Regularly replace those 'divots' with forgiveness to restore the relationship's health.
Dissertation Found Apology Heals Marriages
- Randy researched apologizing and forgiving for his doctoral dissertation and found structured apology/forgiveness improved marriages dramatically.
- Couples moved from failing grades to passing ones after learning the process and practicing apologies and forgiveness.
