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Browse through and read hundreds of articles on the topic of marriage
No two people will agree with each other all the time. Conflict doesn’t mean the marriage is in trouble, and disagreement doesn’t mean you married the wrong person.
You’ve likely heard me talk about “when the issue is no longer the issue.” What begins as a normal difference of opinion can quickly leave both spouses feeling unloved and completely disrespected.
Courtship and the first few months of marriage is a unique time in a couple’s relationship. We are usually focused on our partner’s strengths and rarely aware of the weaknesses or quirks that all of us have.
Sadly, many a man will not include his wife in decisions because he fears her input as an attempt to control him rather than as her desire to be his helpful teammate. Not only is this man extremely insecure (which calls into question his manhood), but some would call him imprudent.
Over the years, I have heard from many women who feel they have more of a right to speak harshly and disrespectfully to their husband than he does to speak unlovingly toward her.
In Matthew 19:9, Jesus said, “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” Put another way, if a spouse has committed adultery, this kind of immorality is grounds for the marriage’s dissolution.
Think back to your last few arguments with your spouse. The times when something he or she did or said really set you off. Maybe you were fuming mad, even if for only a few moments. Perhaps you stirred angry in bed or vented with your friend about how upset you had become with your spouse.
We’ve all at some point entered a room, flipped the light switch, and discovered that the lights won’t come on. When this happens, what is usually the next thing we do? Right, we try it a second time. Maybe even a third time. But short of the rare situation where we learn our first failed attempt to turn on the light was merely a result of us not flipping the switch all the way, did our second and third attempts produce different results? Not at all.
In Exodus 20:14, when God first gave Moses and the Israelites the Ten Commandments, He listed plain and simple: “You shall not commit adultery.” Later, during Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, He reemphasized this command: “You have heard it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’” (Matthew 5:27). And, oddly enough, the world agrees with this!
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