Well, this is the time of the year that we traditionally evaluate ourselves and decide, or decide again, to make improvements. Most people will focus on issues like losing weight, getting in shape, quitting smoking, or making more money.
While these can be excellent issues that need to be dealt with, I would like to encourage you to work on strengthening your marriage. There is nothing more important than strengthening your family. Our culture desperately needs to see successful marriages!
This can take on many important aspects like spending more time together, learning to communicate better, and prioritizing date nights, but I would like to suggest that a great idea is to resolve to strengthen your marriage by becoming a stronger disciple of Christ. I am not talking necessarily about more church attendance or volunteer involvement. While these are a wonderful and vital part of the process of growing as a disciple of Christ, I am talking about asking God to help you grow in Christlike qualities like:
- Love - simply putting others first and lifting them up..especially your mate
- Joy - determine to have a joyful heart that fills your home...get rid of moodiness, angry outbursts, and a sour attitude...be a joy to be around
- Peace - decide to be at peace no matter what happens knowing that God is watching over you
- Goodness - enjoy, appreciate, do, and reward those things that are good
- Patience - pursue a patient, calm attitude...no more uptight demeanor
- Kindness - life is full of opportunities to be kind - act on them especially with your mate
- Faithfulness - determine to be reliable and loyal
- Self Control - stop granting yourself permission to behave and speak in ways that are hurtful to others, especially your mate
You probably recognize this as the list of fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22. This year, determine to improve your life by improving your marriage by cooperating with God's plan to cultivate more of the fruit of the Spirit into you.
The best way to improve your marriage is to become a better marriage partner.
The best way to become a better marriage partner is to develop more of these Heavenly qualities.
Here are a couple of helpful hints:
- Tell God that you want to do this and ask for His help.
- Notice how you are in these areas currently.
- Write down the list of desired qualities and make it a part of your daily prayer time.
- Make a point of noticing opportunities to replace old ways with these new, better responses.
- You will be amazed what God will do in you this year if you stick to it.
- Thank God for growth that you notice.
Start the New Year off right by committing to strengthen your marriage!
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