Choosing Love in Your Marriage

For those of us who have been married for a while, we’ve learned very quickly that marriage isn’t the perfect extended honeymoon we’d imagined. Sure, marriage is amazingly awesome, but the truth is that we have to make the choice to love one another through thick and thin to get there.

God’s love is the single-most important part of any marriage. But what does that mean? There are many components within love that help make marriage a positive, God-filled experience. From forgiveness to patience to gentleness, choosing love within marriage is necessary to create the type of marriage you and your spouse desire.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 helps us to better understand the love of God:

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

And there is something else. We have to choose love. And it isn’t an easy thing to do. But because of Christ on the inside of us we have the power to choose love in our marriage even when the world around us seems like it is falling apart. Today we are sharing 3 ways to choose love in your marriage.

3 Ways to Choose Love in Your Marriage

1. Train yourself to pray as soon as you are tempted to be unkind to your spouse. By taking the time to stop and pray before doing anything that does not demonstrate God’s love towards your spouse, you can help build self-control and trust in your marriage. It doesn’t mean that you will ever be perfect in this area, however, the goal is to improve the way you communicate to your spouse. By using this method we have saved ourselves from speaking many harsh and unkind words to each other. And in turn it has strengthened our marriage and given us the strength to make it through some tough times.
2. Ask yourself what you can do each day to show God’s love to your spouse. This can be something as simple as giving them a love coupon or sending them an unexpected prayer via text or email. By making the intentional choice each day to show your spouse how much you care; you’ll be surprised how quickly you will begin to choose love no matter what your flesh is telling you to do. And the best part? Not only are you loving your spouse and strengthening your marriage — you are also honoring God through the process!
3. Memorize some marriage verses from the Bible to help you honor your covenant. We are really big on using God’s Word to renew our minds and help us choose love in our marriage. Over the last 16 years we have been able to see major growth in the way we love one another simply by committing to memorize God’s Word as individuals and together. Looking for a good place to start? Here are 8 free printable memory verses for your marriage.

While choosing love isn’t always the easy thing to do, it’s the right and necessary thing to do. By building your faith through God’s Word, prayer, and taking actionable steps you will soon begin to choose love in your marriage. And before you know it making the choice to love will be the easy choice!

In His Love,

Mike + Carlie Kercheval
fulfillingyourvows.com
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