Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts Devotional

In our romantic quest to make each other happy, we often end up suffocating the person we most love.

Research on crying has shown that tears contain chemicals related to stress. When people cry they are actually washing away the harmful effects of stress. William Frey, in his book Crying: The Mystery of Tears, suggests that women, whom society allows to cry more openly and frequently, are able to excrete their “stress waste” more readily than men, who are conditioned to block this natural cleansing system.

If you bugged yourself, if you recorded the conversations between you and your partner, what would you hear? What category of conversation would top your list?

After the great writer F. Scott Fitzgerald died, the executor of his estate found his notes on a play that was never written. The plot involved five members of one family who lived apart but would inherit a stately mansion if they could agree to only one condition—to live in the house together.
Marriage is a little like that unfinished play. People who have been living apart are suddenly offered life’s most compelling rewards if they can only learn how to live together.
The catch, of course, is that living together is not always easy. It requires maturity. Some have suggested that two strangers could be married to each other off the street and make a pretty good marriage together if only they were mature enough to work their way through the inevitable differences.

Conversation cultivates intimacy.

Conversation cultivates intimacy

As strange as it may sound, there is a strong link in marriage between spirituality and sexuality. Married couples who cultivate spiritual intimacy are far more likely to report higher satisfaction with their sex life than other couples.

Talk over financial matters regularly, at a time when money decisions are not pressing.

PRAYER
Dear God, reveal to us the higher dignity and power of our marriage. Teach us to spur one another on, gently and lovingly, toward becoming more like Christ. We want to double our efforts by serving you together as a team, so please help us discover our unique gift of shared service as a couple. We pray this sincerely. Amen.

PRAYER
Gracious God, thank you for our marriage. Thank you for the joy and happiness it brings to our lives. Teach us to realize that drawing our strength from you and learning to love one another is critical to our well-being. We long to be soul mates and ask you to teach us how. Amen.