How To Make A Marriage Work – Part 3

This week I am blogging about five ways you can make a marriage work. Today is part three of this five-part post. You can read Part 1 & Part 2 here.

So here’s part three:

3. Your Spouse Has To Be Second In Your Life

Following on from yesterday’s post, we discovered that for a marriage to be healthy and successful, God has to be first in their lives and in their marriage. After God comes your spouse! Not you, not your kids, not your career, not your dreams and aspirations, not your parents, not your friends, not football, not shopping, not your bank account, not anything. If your spouse is not second priority in your life your going to encounter a whole lot of problems.

Just think of the arguments married couples have. They all center around someone not thinking of their spouse first. Pastors are the worst at this in all honesty. They put church work ahead of their spouse so often that their marriage deteriorates so much that the ministry is all they have left in common!

In all the conversations I have had with people who have had marriage difficulties and even gone through divorce this has to be the most obvious reason there were any problems in the first place. Selfishness is a cruel and destructive thing. A marriage where one or two sides are selfish is a marriage that will never experience its potential.

Let’s be honest. We are all a little selfish.  I’m selfish and your selfish. We often look out for number one. We think the world is against us and sometimes that includes our spouse. If you want your marriage to work this is something you have to address. When you wake up in the morning do you think about yourself or how you can serve your spouse? When you get home from a long hard day at work do you think about yourself or your spouse? When your favorite TV show is on, or your sports team are playing, are you asking yourself is this something that is putting my spouse as a priority in my life?

Pretty hard-core I know, but marriage is hard-core and one little ounce of selfishness can bring down even the best of marriages.

Romans 12:10, says to let love continue, and in honor prefer one another above yourself. So often we can do this with other people, but when it comes to our spouse our true nature comes out. The harsh reality of our selfishness surfaces because we are not putting on a front.

So today, whatever you are doing, take a moment to do something for your spouse that would take a little bit of sacrifice on your behalf. Show your spouse that they are your top priority in life, behind God of course!