‘Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. ‘ 1 Peter 4:8(NLT)
‘Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. ‘ Romans 12:10(NLT)
‘Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. ‘ Colossians 3:12-14(NLT)
Devotional Content:
What are you as a couple doing right now to purposefully make your marriage better? If you’re not actively doing anything, you might want to consider setting some reasonable goals for your marriage in order to get you started. One idea is to create a list together of the things that are important to you in your marriage. Add to the list anything that you want to exist in your marriage that is not there now.
Next, separate the items on your list into three groups—daily, short-term, and long-term. Daily items are the things you can do each day to show love, help each other out, and enrich each other’s lives. Short-term items are the things you would like to build into your marriage over the next year. And long-term items are the things that you want to build into your marriage over the next five to ten years.
Discuss what each of you will specifically do to build all these goals into your marriage. Use your lists as a guideline. Encourage each other in what you are doing. Every six months, look at your lists and see how you are doing. You can always change or update your lists.
Just remember, there is no better time than now to put your marriage as a priority and work together to make it awesome.
Today’s Challenge: If, when, and how you want to improve your marriage is a choice. What will you choose to do?
Going Deeper:
1. Discuss some of the things you have done in the past to make your marriage better.
2. Make a list together of the things that are important to you in your marriage. Then separate theM into the categories of Daily, Short-Term, and Long-Term.
3. Use your list as a guide as you discuss what part each of you will play in improving your marriage.
4. Commit to following through.
5. Evaluate and update your list every six months.
from Growing Your Marriage – Part 1