Marriage is about the union of
two people - two families of people. It brings them together in a legally
binding relationship which God intends to last a lifetime.
Life happens, though; the death
of a spouse, or of the marriage, sidetracks our best intentions. Our negative emotions
influence whether or not we can forgive each other, or if we harbor anger and
resentment.
It is best to investigate right
away whenever we feel anger toward our spouse. We cannot allow hurt, anger or
bitterness to accumulate in our heart and erect walls between us and those who
love us.
These negative emotions prevent
unconditional love, appreciation and respect from growing in our marriage. Emotional
stress added to the stresses of daily living will encourage the desire in us to
escape from our marriage.
Satan will certainly, gladly
provide us with the opportunity to destroy what God has joined together. Do not
be surprised when controversy, disagreements and arguments erupt in your
marriage.
These do not indicate a problem
in the relationship; but merely a normal adjustment between two very different
people. God puts opposites together so that we can stretch, grow, and learn
from one another.
God desires that we appreciate one
another's individual strengths, and that we allow them to overcome the
weaknesses in each other. No one spouse has all the answers.
It is only as we really listen to
one another, consider each other's opinions, feelings and needs - and then
compromise our desires that we can find equitable solutions to the issues that
will most certainly arise.
Our goal in any argument is never
to run each other down, wound with critical words, bring up the past in a
hurtful manner or stoop to abusive verbal or physical behavior.
We simply hash out our
disagreements in an honest and harmonious manner, striving to find common
ground, giving in on matters that are not really important to us, and standing
firm about the things which mean the most to us.
Prayer:
Father God, You gave each of us a
unique personality, made from genetics, upbringing, personality and learned
qualities. Remind us that we all need to receive love in different ways: words
of affirmation, physical or emotional attention, acts of service, romantic
gifts and gestures, or a conglomeration of these. This special language is all
our own and allows us to feel loved and nurtured by our spouse.
Help us to understand that if we
withhold these gifts of affection from one another, we are undermining our
relationship and sabotaging our marriage - setting our self up for a cold and
distant existence. Yet if we shower each other with love, we are ensuring that
our marriage will go the distance and last a lifetime.
Thought for the Day:
Everyone has their own unique
love language that fulfills them and allows them to feel understood,
appreciated and cherished; make it a point to ask your mate what his/her love
language is and then give him/her expressions of that love some time
during every single day.
Visit:
http://www.5lovelanguages.com
