2016 came and went pretty fast, didn’t it?
Can you think of the areas in which your marriage grew in 2016? Can you think of the areas you wished it grew but maybe it didn’t?
Don’t despair – as long as the Lord has delayed His return and your death (wow – what a cheery way to think about your marriage) there’s opportunity to continue to grow and live out the reality of your relationship with Christ.
You know your marriage better than I do – but here’s some primers to get the thought process going. I have taken the 5 character traits Paul asked Timothy to focus on from 1 Timothy 4:12 as the guide:
- What are the words I can sometimes find myself using towards my spouse that are not encouraging or helpful? How can I better incorporate encouragement into my dialogue routine?
- Have I in any way become embittered towards my spouse or resentful for any actions of the past? How should I be looking to uproot these attitudes and replant grace?
- Is there anyone else or anything else that has replaced my spouse when it comes to enjoyment, affection or attention? What adjustments need to be made and what help can I enlist to hold me accountable?
- In what ways can I bring faith more into my marriage? Do I know how my spouse is doing spiritually? What questions would need to be asked to find out?
- Have I allowed any impurity into my marriage? Am I secretly indulging in media, relationships or untruthful thoughts that are supposed to be reserved exclusively for my spouse?
The temptation can be to think of other people, or maybe more realistically, think of our spouse when it comes to these questions. We can easily think of how they are not applying these areas. This post isn’t primarily for your spouse. It’s for you. So as you think through these questions, with an open Bible, ask the Holy Spirit to help you carefully understand your thoughts and to be truthful about areas of your life that need to change.
Can you think of other questions that would be good for husbands or wives to consider? Feel free to post them below…