Cortney met her husband Mark in her first year of college. She was quickly enamored with this smart, humorous Christian who led her to Christ. Whenever she had questions about anything, whether about her faith in Christ or life in general, he always knew the right answer. Meanwhile, Mark’s reputation as a Christian grew, earning him the nickname “Mr. Christian”.
As the couple went through college, Mark struggled with pornography. After graduation, the couple got married, but Mark’s growing porn addiction would open the door to an affair with a woman he met online. Mark had three affairs over the next thirteen years of marriage.
Meanwhile, he and Cortney went about their lives as normal, working, adopting two children, and being active in church as if nothing was wrong. Cortney thought it was the perfect marriage.
t wasn’t until Mark started spending time with a new female coworker that she questioned her husband. He denied it and ended the affair, but he couldn’t deny it much longer. One day, as Mark was out running, he heard a voice he had not heard in a while telling him “it’s time to come clean and tell his wife the truth.”
Trying to soften the blow, he admitted to the emotional affair Cortney had asked him about, but in the coming days, she had more questions, and finally, everything came out. This broke Cortney’s trust in him and caused a lot of pain.
In her head, she could not take any more of it. She was going to go downstairs, kick him out, and take the kids. Mark needed help with his addiction and knew the only way his marriage could be restored was if Cortney could forgive him.
Cortney trusted God’s word when he told her not to leave yet; he was going to make it good. She went downstairs and told Mark “You may have broken your vows, but I will not break mine.”
Mark enrolled in sex addiction counseling, and over the next several months, the couple was forced to fix the brokenness in their marriage. At that time, they both realized that they had to trust in God. The couple struggled with reconciliation.
Then, on the fourth of July, after carrying the hurt and brokenness, Cortney knew what she had to do. She went and told Mark she forgave him for all he had done. It was time to move forward. Mark overcame addiction as the Lord began to heal the marriage.
Now, seven years later, they are marriage mentors. They no longer focus on the perfect marriage but instead, strive for a marriage with Christ at the center.
View the full testimony in the video below.
Do you want to take your marriage to the next level?
How to divorce-proof your marriage so you won’t become the next statistic?
Read Marriage Covenant: The Biblical Secret for a Love That Lasts by Derek Prince
Also View: How God Can Change a Marriage
