Marriage isn’t always sunshine and rainbows. There will be bad days where you don’t get along, you may disagree on things, and there might be stressful situations where you don’t want to speak to one another. One of my favorite quotes about marriage is from Elder Lynn G. Robbins. It says, “A happy and successful marriage depends on two good forgivers.” When negative interactions occur, it’s important to be able to apologize, forgive, and forget. No relationship is perfect. You must continue to develop your friendship with your spouse. In the book, “The Seven Principles of Making Marriage Work” by John M. Gottman, he makes some great points about friendship in marriage. He talks about how we need to do more than just “get along”. Spouses should put each other first, spend quality time together, push each other towards their dreams, get rid of pride, resolve problems, and have positive interactions with one another.
When Gottman talked about getting rid of pride it reminded me of the scripture Mosiah 3:19. It talks about how the natural man is an enemy to God and in order for us to put off that natural man, there are things that we must do. We should use the Atonement of Jesus Christ, be humble, love those around us, and be willing to change. I feel that that is a lot of the problem in today’s world and why divorce rates are so high. If we aren’t willing to become better and work through our problems, our marriages won’t last long. If we are willing to align our marriage to the will of our Heavenly Father, make the gospel the center of our home, and put each other first there is nothing that can break our marriage apart. Of course there will be bumps in the road, but God will help us if we do those things.
The most important thing that I feel we can do in our relationships is to have to fun together. I know it sounds cheesy and cliche, but I am grateful that I am married to my best friend. If one of us is having a bad day the other is always there to lift the other up. We try not to take things so seriously, we laugh, we put each other first, and we try to do fun things together. She makes me want to be a better person. I definitely got lucky and I thank Heavenly Father every day for having her in my life.
What are some things that your grateful for in your spouse/future spouse? Also, what are some things that you learned this week that could be beneficial in your marriage or relationships?
Happy Wife, Happy Life 