Strengthening Your Marriage in the New Year

When I first got married, I remember women who had been married for many years telling me that marriage was hard work. I, of course, thought they were crazy. Then again what newly wed couple would think marriage would be hard work. After all, love is all that matters right?

After a few months (yep the honeymoon ended quickly) I began to see glimmers of what those women were talking about. A few years into our marriage and I understood completely what those women said and fully believed each and every word.

Going into marriage, most people are under the impression that they are marrying their soulmate and because of this fact, they will never face all the challenges other marriages face. However, the fact is that all marriages will have moments when it isn’t exactly easy to love your spouse. In fact, there are a few times that we may even have to remind ourselves that we love our spouse. Yet as we struggle along, occasionally we are reminded all the hard work that we pour into our marriage is more important than what we pour into other relationships.

The truth is marriage isn’t supposed to be easy. In fact, marriage was doomed to be hard since Adam and Eve. But, it’s hard to remember sometimes that marriage isn’t always going to be a bed of roses. Just like everything else in life, we have to work toward making our marriage something wonderful. And just like most projects and relationships, if we neglect our marriage, it will fall apart.

Falling apart

Most moms find themselves falling apart, because they feel like their marriage is falling apart at the hem. It isn’t because both spouses aren’t doing the best they can for their young family, but because in their efforts to be the best mom and dad, they forget the one thing their family needs the most is a strong marriage.

Striving to nurture and build a strong marriage should be right at the top of our priorities every single day – just under building our relationship with God.  However, in most cases, it is placed toward the bottom – leaving both parties of the marriage feeling under appreciated, which causes friction between the entire family unit.

So how can we stop this from happening? How can we actually help strengthen our marriage daily and still maintain all our other relationships? Here are a few things that are working for my husband and I.

5 Ways to Keep Your Marriage Strong

1. Pray for your spouse daily. Spend time daily praying for their needs and even their desires. Not only does this help them spiritually it will cause you to view your spouse in a different light. It will help you to become more in tune with what they actually need and are facing.
2. Study God’s word together. This helps you both grow in Christ – together. Your spouse also makes an amazing accountability partner, which only builds your bond.
3. Talk with each other. Talking with your spouse daily and not at your spouse helps keep you both connected and on the same page. This also means you need to be willing to actively listen. Stop what you’re doing and really listen to what they are saying. Hear their heart. It isn’t easy and sometimes you have to ask them to wait, so you can concentrate on just them.
4. Strive to do something daily for your spouse. It can be something simple like watching their favorite television show or something as awesome as buying them something they really want, but refuse to buy for themselves. These little gestures show that you are invested in them as a person and your marriage.
5. Find a hobby. Hobbies are great and it is something that you can both do together and it will also give you something that will allow you to spend a little time together.

In this upcoming year, lets strive to make sure to make sure our marriage is first on our lists. Not only will it benefit ourselves and our spouses, it will also strengthen our family.

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Bridget Childress

Bridget has been married to her best friend for 14 years. They have 4 amazing and wild children. Bridget enjoys reading, writing and stealing stolen quiet moments to curl up to a good movie. Her goal is to inspire moms and wives to be the best that they can for the glory of God.

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