Pt 4/4

The world will change when we get love right, and it must begin first and foremost in marriage and family life. Marriage is not “fifty-fifty.” Divorce is. Love requires a one hundred percent gift from the spouses.

Listen to the words of the vows, “in sickness and health, for richer or poorer, in good times and bad; I will love and honor you all the days of my life.” Those are not words for the faint-hearted. 

Our marriage comes right after our relationship with God and before all else. Yes, even our children, extended family, jobs, or friends. Great marriages don’t happen automatically. The grass is NOT greener with someone else. Taking time to fertilize our marriages produces a lush environment where authentic love grows and produces abundant fruit. 

Good marriages are made in heaven, placing God at the heart and head of everything. I offer a few tips that contribute to healthy, happy marriages.

God first, God together 

• Pray for and with one another. Attend Mass regularly. God is the source of love, and it is love that will bind and strengthen you in life and its storms.
• The world’s greatest catastrophe was over a piece of fruit. Yet it wasn’t about the fruit at all. At the end of every tragedy is a choice, choosing something other than God. God first. Everything else falls into place.
• The greatest tragedy of life is not to end up in paradise. Getting each other to heaven requires effort, patience, prayer, and ample forgiveness.

Appreciate and Affirm

• Be grateful for your spouse and say it. Affirm their goodness, gifts, and contributions. It’s easy to pick at the defects, and it takes virtue to encourage rather than tear them down.
• The more we practice virtue, the less room for vices.
• Tough days and curve balls exist to teach us something. They stretch our spiritual muscles growing us in holiness. The more we surrender to God and his plans, our trust increases.
• We are not on our own. God is there to help and places good people in our lives along the way. Reach out.   

Forgiveness is Vital

• We’re going to mess up. Do we recognize when we do? Do we acknowledge and ask for forgiveness? If our kids see us fight, they must know we can work together on solutions.

Fun and Friends

• Foster healthy couple relationships that share the same values.
• Take time to have fun together. LAUGH and enjoy each other’s company.
• Protect your love from harmful associations by limiting or eliminating them.

Enrich your Marriage 

• Take advantage of opportunities to grow in faith and life skills. Date nights or marriage retreats are a great way to inspire you both to new heights.
• Worldwide Marriage Encounter- wwme.com
• Struggling Marriages might consider a Retrouvaille retreat-www.helpourmarriage.org
• If pornography is in your marriage, root it out. It is a poison that is destroying marriages. Get help at these sites: Strive21.com, Integrityrestored.com or fightthenewdrug.org

We can always be BETTER than we are. There is no limit to that endeavor. Only God can truly satisfy the depths of our hearts, which is why we invite the infinite love of God and his supernatural strength to help us live out our vows.