[joe1111]

Marriage, even when you are married to the right person, requires a lot of work for it to be successful. It will take everything in you to give love, express love and receive love. Nothing good comes easy. One thing married couples have to be very careful about is the words they speak to each other. The direction of your marriage is determined by the direction of your tongue.
Your attitude towards your spouse determines whether your marriage will be good and romantic. One thing marriage does is that it shows you who the person you married really is. It shows you your spouse nakedness/weaknesses and to have a good marriage you must be able to handle your spouse's weaknesses.
Respect is fundamental to a good marriage. The moment you begin to anyhow to your spouse, disrespect will set in. A person you disrespect cannot love you and neither will you love a person you do not respect. It is usually easy to lose respect for your spouse because you know her like no one else does but you should remember that this works both ways. You must show regard for your spouse in the way you speak and react to them.
Bitterness and un-forgiveness must never be allowed to come into a marriage. Keeping a record of wrongs done against you by your spouse will only further weaken your relationship with your spouse. You must be willing and quick to forgive. Forgiveness is very important in any marriage.

[vanaden]

Thanks this was a good read.
It's true that people that use words as daggers usually push their spouse away. I've learned that in my marriage. While it is hard to hold your tounge sometimes when you feel hurt, it's vital. I find that you can say what you want in a completely different tone and the outcome is much different.

[Alejandros Mommy]

Hello and Welcome to families. Thank you for sharing your advise. May I ask that you include families.com in your blog roll as per our terms of use. Thank you.

[mcmama]

The forgiveness arrow gets thrown at me a lot. After 10 years, I have gotten to the point where I can pray for him, but for what he did to our family, forgiveness does not come so easily. It certainly does not come when you are constantly under pressure and under threat from a misogynist who hates women and uses children as weapons, fueling the courts with money to take them away and diminish authority but not really assume responsibility.

Marriage takes two. Not one giving in all the time to be a good Christian forgiving doormat.