Keys to a Strong Marriage

Keys to a strong marriage I shared with a couple I married last year

-       Trust is built over time but can be destroyed in a moment.

-       Love each other unconditionally. Not performance based. Don’t compare your spouse with other people.

-       Be willing to consider the other’s views. It is now ‘we’ not ‘I’.

-       Be willing to learn and to seek solutions where there are challenges you are failing to overcome

-       Don’t take each other for granted.Continue what you did in courtship to win your spouse.

-       Place high value on each other, appreciate and be thankful. Believe in each other.

-       You are not captives of each other but there to give each other freedom to become all that God wants you to be. Look to draw out the best and the potential in one another. Focus on positives. Look for things to praise. Often say I love you.  Affirm one another.

-       Avoid winning an argument and losing the relationship.

-       A healthy marriage relationship is the greatest gift parents can give to their children

-       Recognise and appreciate gender, personality and other differences. Difference is the beginning of synergy.Use the strengths that you share to overcome gaps from your difference

-       Pray, plan and play together

-       Evaluate how well you are doing and keep improving where you are week. Be realistic, there is no perfect spouse/marriage.

-       Areas of marital problems are – Gender difference, Sexual intimacy, Money, Outsiders, Poor communication, spouse roles

-       In laws are a God given resource. In laws are not  outlaws

-       Honoring parents brings God’s finest blessings.

By Kurai Chitima
Faith Ministries
Johannesburg