Oct 21
Love0

How to Prioritize Christlike Love During Difficult Times

By Marriage One Comment

Loving like Jesus is important at all times, but when you’re experiencing a challenging season, Christlike love becomes absolutely critical. In order to keep Christlike love a top priority, you must practice it intentionally on a daily basis. Christlike love transcends all–hard times, interpersonal conflict, joy, and loss. Whatever you and your spouse are facing right now, you can make it to the other side through Jesus’s love. Let’s look at a few ways we can all prioritize Christlike love during hard times. 1. Pay careful attention to your spouse’s needs. When times are tough, you and your spouse may…

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Oct 14
Love0

Emotional Health Check: How Are You Doing, Really?

By Self Reflection No Comments

Emotional health is vital to not only personal wellbeing, but to healthy relationships–especially marriages. That’s why it’s important for you and your spouse to communicate openly and often about how you’re really doing, emotionally. Let’s look at a few ways you can work together to maintain self-awareness and open communications so you can effectively process your emotions. 1. Have regular check-ins with your spouse. Emotional health is something we should monitor within ourselves, but that isn’t always easy to do. Self-awareness takes practice, and the noise of a busy day-to-day life can easily push it to the bottom of the…

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Oct 07
Love0

4 Ways to Grow Closer to Your Spouse This Fall

By Intimacy, Marriage, Recreation, Relationships 7 Comments

The seasons are changing, and we’re headed into fall. Fall is a time of profound change in the natural world as the leaves change color, then drift to the ground. It’s also a time of warmth, gratitude, and giving. There are many ways you and your spouse can use the fall season to draw closer to one another. Let’s look at a few ways you can get cozier with your husband or wife this fall. 1. Play more together. New seasons often mean new opportunities for play. When the weather changes, or when certain sports or activities cycle in, that’s…

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Sep 30
Love0

Why It’s Time To Let Go of Perfectionism in Your Marriage

By Conflict, Marriage 5 Comments

Are you a perfectionist? Is your spouse? Although perfectionists tend to pride themselves on their meticulousness and attention to detail, those of us who experience perfectionism often find that the people around us don’t necessarily uphold our ideals. And in a marriage, perfectionistic tendencies can create major strain. Today, we’re breaking down a few reasons why it’s time to let go of perfectionism in your marriage. Let’s dive right in. 1. Perfectionism triggers unnecessary stress. Expecting perfection in one or more areas of life and marriage sets us up for unnecessary stress. Stress, in turn, can negatively impact our health….

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Sep 23
Love0

5 Everyday Marriage Problems and How to Tackle Them

By Communication, Conflict 2 Comments

Every married couple must overcome problems over the course of their relationship. Obstacles are part of life. Everyone faces them, but couples have the privilege of facing them together. Today, we’re breaking down five everyday marriage problems most couples will encounter at sometime in their relationship. Let’s take a look! 1. Not making time for each other. Time is a valuable commodity. You must make time for one another if you want a happy marriage. However, it’s easy to get bogged down by careers, kids, and all-around busy schedules. The direct result of being too busy is losing valuable time…

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Sep 16
Love0

Why Every Married Couple Should Avoid the Blame Game

By Communication, Conflict, Marriage 3 Comments

Playing the blame game is an unhealthy and damaging way for couples to approach problem solving. Rather than resolving conflicts, blame and finger-pointing actually make them worse. If you’re trying to build or maintain a healthy, intimate marriage, you’ll want to avoid blaming each other for problems in your life. Let’s look at a few reasons why blame is so toxic to our marriages. 1. Blame doesn’t listen. When you blame one another for a problem you’re facing–big or small–you are actively choosing not to listen to your spouse’s side of the story. This hurts your ability to be empathic…

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Sep 09
Love0

3 Reasons to Stop Idealizing Your Spouse

By Communication, Intimacy, Marriage 4 Comments

It’s common for couples to idealize one another early in their relationships. For many people, idealization is the peak of romance. It’s infused in the rush of new love and the excitement of the honeymoon period. But the truth is, idealizing your spouse is harmful to your marriage long-term. That’s because idealization isn’t the same thing as being enamored with, or in love with, your spouse. In fact, idealization is in direct contrast to the Christlike love we should cultivate for one another. It may sound odd, but putting your spouse on a pedestal can damage your marriage. Let’s take…

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Sep 02
Love1

8 Ways to Deepen Your Intimacy During Difficult Times

By Intimacy, Marriage 2 Comments

Difficult times can refine or break your relationship. That’s why it’s so important to stay connected. Through intentional action, it’s possible to deepen your intimacy during hard seasons. Let’s look at eight ways you and your spouse can deepen your intimacy, despite being in the midst of a difficult time. 1. Listen to one another. Communication is important at all times in a relationship. But during difficult times, it becomes more important than ever. As a couple, take time to talk with, and listen to, each other. Your conversations don’t always have to be centered around the hard things that…

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Aug 26
Love0

How Your Response to Life Change Affects Your Marriage

By Communication, Marriage, Relationships One Comment

Once you’re married, it doesn’t take much time at all to get a feel for how your and your spouse each respond to life change. How you respond to change can affect your marriage, for better or worse. And it can tell you and your spouse a lot about one another. Some couples experience drastic life changes early on in their marriages, while others might be married a little longer before they do. But every couple will face stressors, upheaval, and unexpected change at some point in their marriage–and maybe more than once. So how do your individual responses to…

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Aug 19
Love0

6 Issues That Can Sabotage Any Marriage (and How to Fix Them)

By Conflict, Marriage 4 Comments

Looking to prevent problems in your marriage before they begin? There are six major–but subtle–marriage saboteurs you should be on the lookout for. Let’s take a look at what they are, and how to fix them. 1. Having too many obligations. Life is busy–we get it. But staying too busy can actually sabotage your marriage. When you and your spouse are so consumed with day-to-day obligation, it can be easy for those obligations to crowd your intimacy out. How to fix it: You can’t put a marriage on autopilot. It takes daily commitment to keep that spark alive. Be intentional…

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