One of the reasons we choose to get married is to be able to share with someone special to us the joys and trials of life. We help to carry one another’s burdens, and we make the special times we share more meaningful. However, often we place rings on each other’s finger and then continue our self-centered lifestyle.
If we allow God to work through our relationship, we will learn more about our self, and be willing to change certain aspects in order to make our marriage more fluid and amiable. Negative times help us to grow together if we are willing to support each other, to share with each other the intents of our heart, and to show patience with each other as we improve our own flaws.
We can read books by Christian authors and study the Bible together to learn how to navigate conflicts that may come up between us. We both may have strong feelings about an issue; however, seeking God as a couple for His wisdom on how to traverse the disagreements is the best option for a successful relationship.
We always prioritize time for our vocation, friends, church service, and community outreach, but do we place time with our mate on the top of that list? If anything should be displaced by some errand, invitation, or event, it should never be our spouse. Praying, playing, and serving together is vitally important in the health of our unity.
Another key to keeping joy in our marriage is to keep each other’s needs and desires as the important part of our own priority list. If something is important to our spouse, that is a prompt to make it important in our schedule too. This attitude and behavior will make our spouse feel special, heard, important, supported, and vital to us.
You have heard the adage, “Happy wife, Happy life.” Well, this goes both ways. Actually, “Happy companion, Happy union.” Our goals in life and marriage are two-fold:
1. Bring joy to our Father God
2. Bless our mate each and every day.
Prayer:
Father God, teach us to bring out the best in our mate by showing compassion, giving encouragement, and accepting one another’s faults and strengths. Remind us that we are all human and we all make mistakes, have short-comings, and feel discouraged and weary from time to time. Help us to have patience with each other, and to show concern rather than irritation when our spouse is less than loving.
By Your care for Your adopted children, You exemplify what true agape and unconditional love can do in a relationship. The more You love us, the more we want to love You. Assist us to be more grateful to You and to our spouse – especially for all the little things You do for us each day, and that we do for each other that usually go unnoticed. We all love to hear a “thank you” now and then. We want to increase our gratitude and commitment to You and to our spouse more each day.
Thoughts for the Day:
Some ways to keep the joy alive in marriage are:
· Respect each other at all times
· Continually find common interests
· Create a spiritual bond
· Honestly, but kindly, communicate our true feelings
· Forgive quickly
· Trust builds the love bond
· Appreciate each other’s strengths
· Have patience with one another’s faults
