A
party was thrown in honor of a couple’s 50th wedding anniversary.
The husband wanted to honor his wife, who was hard of hearing. In the presence
of all, he said, “My dear wife, after fifty years I’ve found you tried and
true!”
Everyone clapped but his wife looked bothered. She loudly asked, “WHAT DID YOU
SAY?”
He
spoke louder, “After fifty years of being married I’ve found you tried and true!”
The upset wife
shouted back, “And after fifty years of marriage I’m tired of you, too!” Four things will keep you from getting tired of your spouse and will insure a happy marriage.
1. Commitment—holds your
marriage together. A
marriage is only as strong as the husband’s and wife’s commitment to the Lord. If
your spouse is faithful to the Lord, he or she will also be faithful to you. A
study on marriage revealed that the divorce rate for a married couple who
attended church every week, regularly read the Bible, and prayed together at
least once a day was 1 in 1,015.
2. Caring—keeps the
love alive. If
your marriage has lost its love, the Lord can resurrect it because “God is love” (1
John 4:8). He will show you what to do because we are “taught by God to love
one another” (1 Thess. 4:9).
3. Compromise—minimizes
your differences. Compromise
doesn’t mean that you violate your integrity but that you negotiate your
differences and come to an agreement. “Do not merely look out for your own
interests but also for the interest of others” (Phil. 2:4). My wife and I used
to argue about where to set the thermostat in the house. I like it 76 degrees
and she wants it 72 degrees. We agreed to set the thermostat at 74 degrees. End
of argument. If you are arguing about issues, figure out how to meet in the
middle and quit fighting about it.
4. Communication—makes
marriage run smoothly. Communication stops when yelling begins. If a
husband and wife don’t enjoy talking to each other, they will drift apart and
the marriage will slowly die. Learn to talk positively about what interests
your spouse.
It will take both spouses doing these four things
to make your marriage work, but change
usually starts with one spouse taking the initiative. You make the first
move and let God deal with your spouse.
www.makinglifecount.net (Over 200 printable Bible studies and sermons)
Making Life Count Ministries
P.O. Box 680174
Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174
Thank you to all who support this
discipleship ministry.
Contributions to Making Life
Count Ministries are tax-deductible.
