What Men Get Wrong About Marriage, Identity, and Calling - Joby Martin & Denny Thompson

Denny Thompson and Pastor Joby Martin sit down for a real conversation about football, marriage, leadership, and the identity that holds a man together. They start with the intensity of the college football season and the unexpected storylines from the playoff race, but the episode quickly shifts into the deeper places where most men actually live. Denny opens up about the season when his marriage was essentially over and how God used suffering, honesty, confession, and spiritual clarity to rebuild something stronger than before. Joby unpacks why most marriages break at the level of identity, why men so often focus on what they are not getting instead of who they are becoming, and why the triangle picture of husband wife and Jesus changes everything about how a home functions.They talk about what it means to lead with service, not entitlement, and how gratitude from a wife fuels a man in a way nothing else can. They discuss the spiritual reality that identity comes before activity and why men perform better and love better when they know who they are in Christ. The conversation moves through parenting, family rhythms, homeschooling decisions, work pressure, the myth of balance, and the truth about intensity and rest. Both share stories of failure, growth, and the clarity that comes when you stop fighting for approval and start living from the approval God has already given.This episode is for the man who wants to win at work and at home without losing himself in the process. It is for anyone who has ever felt the pressure to perform, the weight of leadership, or the tension between the grind and the relationships that matter most. It is honest, practical, and rooted in the belief that men are called to more and built for more.