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#88: Stinkin’ Thinkin’
The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish pulls it down with her hands. (Proverbs 14:1) We’ve all heard the saying “if momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy”. It’s seen to be true in many homes. When the momma is critical, or when she tears other people down with her words, we can see…
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#85: Lifting Up Your Spouse As A Person Of Great Worth
He who humbles himself will be exalted. (Luke 14:11)It feels great to have someone – a friend, a co-worker, or a family member – view us as a person of great worth. To have such a promise of exaltation from the Lord is tremendous. But to be valued as important by one’s spouse may be…
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#81: Healing The Hurt In Your Marriage (Part 4)
Beyond Discouragement, Anger and Resentment to Forgiveness Last week we looked at The Open Loop of Conflict. This week we will be looking at the second and third aspects. The Fork in the RoadWhenever an offense opens a loop in our relationship, we have a choice. We can decide to do what is needed to…
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#33: WORDS (Part 7)
WORDS OF PRAISE 3. Praising AchievementsOur aim should be to commend our children more often than we criticize them. But what if our children do not seem to excel in any arena? They are not athletic, they struggle with school work, and they have neither musical nor dramatic gifts. In this case our words of…
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#28: WORDS (Part 2)
WORDS OF AFFECTION1. Expressing Our LoveThe three words “I love you” have great power. Parents need to speak frequently of their love from the earliest months of their children’s lives all the way through the teenage years. The words “I love you” might be part of the bedtime ritual when they are younger, or the…
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#64: Strength In Gentleness
Let your gentleness be known to all. (Philippians 4:5)I’ve heard it said that words hurt like punches. When we first hear that said, we feel regret because we realise how many “punches” we have hit each other with over the years when we spoke mean or insensitive words. We have thrown many a sarcastic remark…
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#62: To Urge Forward And Positively Toward A Goal
Encourage one another. (1 Thessalonians 5:11) Encouragement, one of the true blessings in a relationship, means urging another to persist and persevere toward a goal. It means to stimulate another person to show love and good deeds. Encouragement looks like calling your spouse on his or her “big day” just to say, “I love you…
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#60: That Which Hurts, Instructs
He who heeds the Word wisely will find good. (Proverbs 16:20)It has been said that there are three rings in marriage: the engagement ring, the wedding ring, and the suffering. Many of us become disillusioned when we encounter the difficulties and problems inherent in married life. When we hurt, many of us tend to believe…
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#56: Receive Grace, Then Share It
From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another. (John 1:16) Grace can’t be earned or deserved. It can’t be demanded or claimed as a right. It is a gift, freely given by a Giver who has an endless supply. Gratitude is one telltale sign of a recipient of grace,…
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#54: Patient Endurance of Another’s Humanness
Walk… with all lowliness and gentleness, with long-suffering bearing with one another in love. (Ephesians 4:2) Tolerance relates to putting up with another person’s obvious humanness and bearing with his or her imperfections. To express tolerance demands setting aside a self-centered focus and adopting instead a God-centered perspective. God sees each of us very different,…
