Here’s a movie called “Fireproof” by Kendrick brothers (Alex and Stephen). It is one of the better Christian movies about love and marriage, and how it takes commitment, hard work, sacrifice, and above all, faith in God and the power of His Holy Spirit. I believe that too many people enter marriage with false ideas and expectations brought on by our self-centered expectations, pornography, lustful fantasies, and Hollywood fairy tales. God never promised that our partners would be knights in shining armor or beautiful princesses. Apostle Paul even warns us, “But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this” (1 Cor.7:28, NIV). However, the Bible also promises many blessings that comes from a Christ-centered and faith-based marriages such as companionship, healthy sexual fulfillment, prayer partnership, ministry partnership, and most of all, a picture of Christ’s love-relationship with the Church, his bride. In my opinion, the movie does well to show that our fleshly-driven love fades over time due to personality conflicts, stress from work, misunderstanding of male and female needs, and unrealistic expectations we put on our partners. A healthy and successful marriage can be ours when we surrender ourselves first of all to Christ as Lord, to each other to serve one another, and have a common goal to serve God’s purpose through our marriage.

Here is a short summary of the movie according to the Rotten Tomatoes:

“In the wake of his daring rescue of a complete stranger, decorated firefighter Caleb Holt (Kirk Cameron) realizes the extent to which he has failed as a husband. In a desperate attempt to save his relationship with his wife, Catherine (Erin Bethea), Holt turns to The Love Dare, a Christian self-help book. At the prompting of his devout father, John (Harris Malcom) — and guided by the book itself — Holt embarks on a 40-day mission to rescue his marriage from the looming specter of divorce.”