We started on the topic of keeping love alive in our marriages in yesterday’s devotional. Let’s delve in the remaining things we need to keep love alive.
2. Don’t Compare
The grass always seem greener at the other side. Never fall for the comparison trap.
Don’t compare other couples or marriages with your own.
Yes, you can learn from them but never compare.
The truth is you never know that other husband or wife.
Every good marriage you admire sacrificed on their path to get to where they are now.
So rather than compare and blame your spouse for not being like husband A, work on your own marriage, pay your own price and make your own sacrifices.
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3. Don’t withdraw
The withdrawal syndrome is one thing that destroys a marriage fast.
It’s a temporary shield you build around yourself to avoid confronting and dealing with issues.
Don’t withdraw into work, yourself, your passion, activity, church project, children, porn, friends, outings or keeping late nights.
When you hide in withdrawal, you have simply created a vacuum for the devil to fill in your home.
You need to understand each other’s temperament and know how to lovingly respect each other’s differences.
Extroverts and introverts are very different and handle issues differently.
Give each other space. Allow your spouse grow without nagging them.
Be patient with your demands. Don’t expect your wife to change over night. Let the fruit of the spirit grow and manifest in your life.
Allow your marriage to grow. Let it blossom.
If you are presently experiencing a not too pleasant moment in your marriage, let grace flow towards you now, releasing peace, strength and courage to you.
I pray for you, may God’s love and a fresh love for your spouse be shed abroad in your heart now in Jesus name.
Gifts are one of the love languages as postulated by Gary Chapman.
Below are a few of my thoughts concerning this topic.
1. Don’t Manipulate Your Spouse Into Gifts Buying
As married couples, the idea is not to disconnect or quarrel with your spouse if he or she is not speaking your language.
You can lovingly discuss with your spouse what makes you happy. You can also reach out and buy him or her gifts and then your spouse does the same in return.
2. Intertwined
As married couples, acts of service and gifts are intertwined. This is because you can give your time, encouragement, empathy, show your love to her in the kitchen and give her some of your time, watch a football match with him when you will rather be having a nap.
But there are people who associate gifts as a love language to have a lot of money.
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3. Eat your cake and have it?
Some single ladies have different guys for different purposes. Some to buy them phones and tabs, some to pay their rent, some to load their phones, some to buy them air tickets, some to load them with cash… well, this is not about love language, it is more of trying to eat your cake and have it.
If this idea and way of living is brought into the marriage, there will be a lot of issues.
It is more of greed and covetousness. It is more of being caught in the web of the deceitfulness of riches. It is not consistent with God’s principles and this will rather slow you down in your journey to a good marriage.
4. Conclusion
In conclusion, and in expressing this language, let God’s word guide you and keep you within godly boundaries.
Don’t borrow to give gifts. Don’t take a loan just to impress someone.
Don’t start what you cannot sustain. Don’t spend the money you don’t have to buy things that are not needed in order to impress people that are not looking.
Marriage wine can often dry up, turn sour or simply lose taste. Relationships can lose the spark, the fun, and the glee! Love can wane, can grow old, and can fast dissipate. Feelings are fickle, never with a forever status.
What do you do when love seems to wane, when the tummy butterflies have all rested their wings, love birds have no more songs when his or her words evoke no more feelings, and the blushing, the dimples, and the smiles have all gone?
What do you do at such times? This is the subject of our discourse this morning.
Everything used to be intense, but recently, you are no longer excited. You are married, and the marriage bed has gone cold.
The bedroom used to be a trip but right now it is a complete bore. You could almost be reading a novel while you are at it, and yet the Bible unequivocally advises that
Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
Pro 5:19 (KJV)
What happened?
Here are a few things that could steal the wine off the marriage shelf, that could sap out and zap off every fun in the union.
Did you miss out on yesterday’s devotional, we’ve got you covered kindly go HERE. For KHC video Devotionals kindly go HERE
1. When you allow pressures to stifle the pleasure There will always be pressures, especially pressures from work. Wise husbands and wives learn to leave office pressures at the office and not bring them home.
Decide to enjoy your marriage through vibrant communication and unhindered flow irrespective of the pressures that be.
2. When you allow the hustles and bustles of life to steal your rest in God Whether you like it or not, there will always be issues to deal with. You must have a commitment to each other in marriage to put each other first place after God.
3. When you refuse to spend quality time together Love will wane when you don’t spend time with each other. Nothing will ever replace quality time spent together enriched with destiny discussions and plans for the future.
Those times of fellowship can never be replaced with any other thing. With compromise, quality time will become dangerous time, bringing with it, damnation and guilt.
4. When you refuse to give yourself self development and learn how to please each other Bringing new wine into a relationship or marriage can be learnt. Both parties must give attention to learning. Learn how to minimize your weaknesses and maximize your strength
5. When you stop praying and the devil starts preying When the wine finished at the wedding at Cana in Galilee, they had to enlist the help of Jesus.
There is no doubt that the supernatural is needed in keeping the bedroom fire hot and in bringing fresh wine into relationships and marriage.
Keep your relationship and marriage established on the foundation of prayers!
Have a great day!
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY The devil has no place in my home.
PRAYERS FOR THE DAY Oh Lord, increase my passion for my lover.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY 1 Corinthians 13:5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
This is a very practical topic. Sometimes, husbands do things that annoy their wives and they don’t even know it.
The man may be born again, tongue talking, demon chasing, and heaven-bound. This does not really matter.
We all as believers are trying to walk more and follow the dictates of the spirit. The more we walk and follow the dictates of the spirit, the better and more sensitive we are and the better our relationship with our spouse is.
We are able to apologize on time and forgive easily. Everybody, whether male or female has certain tendencies.
Unfortunately, it is those tendencies that annoy our spouse because the opposite really does attract. When we attract each other and are married, then we begin to repel each other. We must manage these differences if we must live a happy married life.
Here are 10 things husbands do that annoy the wife
Did you miss out on yesterday’s devotional, we’ve got you covered kindly go HERE. For KHC video Devotionals kindly go HERE
1. Husbands annoy their wives when they spend all their evenings hanging out with their buddies and leave their wives alone.
2. When the husband is glued to the television watching a match or movie and gives his wife monosyllable answers. She is gradually taught to bottle things up.
3. When the husband watches his wife do all house chores without offering a helping hand. She feels like a slave and could be bitter. The husband in turn is frustrated but he caused it.
4. When the husband keeps secrets and hides things from his wife.
5. When the husband does not compliment and appreciate his wife but does that to other women.
6. When the husband doesn’t give enough money for the house keeps yet, expect the most expensive things to eat, wear and expect a beautiful house.
7. When the husband demands respect at all cost without being loving and tender to his wife.
8. When the husband expects a super woman and a ‘lamb’ in the day and a ‘lion’ at night. He expects her to be submissive in the day and aggressive in bed at night.
9. When the husband expects the wife to be near perfect with no flaws when he himself is not in any way near perfect. He excuses his own shortcomings but he is hard on his wife’s weakness.
10. When the husband is not a faithful friend and does not honor the marriage vows but expects his wife to be a faithful covenant partner.
God bless our families
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY As a husband I receive wisdom and I walk in the spirit daily.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Lord, teach me your ways, I humble myself to seek your help.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Ask for God’s help in the journey of marriage.
If there is something married couples need more than anything, it’s the ability to remain joyful in the midst of intense financial pressures, emotional pressures, and marital issues.
As husbands and wives, you have to learn how to laugh always and stay in rejoicing mode! Take a look below at a three-minute video and understand why you should keep on laughing!
The scripture used above says
Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. HE THAT SITTETH IN THE HEAVENS SHALL LAUGH: the Lord shall have them in derision.
Psa 2:1-4 (KJV)
The pressures that show up in marriage can be overwhelming! One of the ways to handle these pressures is to maintain your joy!
Jesus made efforts to keep us joyful. He said so many things to us just to keep us in that state of joy.
He said here in His word:
Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
Joh 16:24 (KJV)
Here, He said we should ask. Rather than allow that marital situation to drive you into some sad mode or regrettable mode, Jesus tells you to ask, and you will receive and your joy will be full.
God wants you excited and laughing and rejoicing.
Did you miss out on yesterday’s devotional, we’ve got you covered kindly go HERE. For KHC video Devotionals kindly go HERE
Rather than react to your spouse, rejoice. At those times that you feel your spouse does not understand you, rejoice and laugh!
Celebration is a demonstration of your expectation!
Good morning!
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I will rejoice evermore. No more sadness. No more depression.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Bind the spirit of depression in your home
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Joh 16:24 (KJV)Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
