Marriage advice by Christa Elisha

Christa Elisha:So often we can get caught up in the busyness of life that we totally neglect the most important relationships God gave us; primarily our marriage! We pray for everyone and everything else but never pray for our spouse. It seems to be our spouse that always gets the leftovers at the end of our day after everyone else has gotten the best of us and we are depleted coming in the door from work each night. There have been many times in our marriage that my husband and I have found ourselves in this position, arguing every time we are around each other over petty things only to discover that the real underlying issue we were having with each other had nothing to do with surface disagreements. Our struggle was the result of the distance we had allowed to creep between us as we let other things take priority over our time and attention to each other. We have learned and are still learning the vital importance of open, honest, vulnerable communication. This includes the humility to express our hearts with each other in a way that is geared toward the end goal of a closer loving connection once resolved. I want to encourage you, if you feel aggravated with your spouse focus on the things that made you fall in love with them in the beginning. Think about those first dates with them and let the rush of emotions resurface. Fall in love with them all over again. Ask Holy Spirit to show you what he loves about your spouse and then agree with him! Focus on whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) After all this is how Jesus chooses to look at us despite our many shortcomings. Surely we can receive grace to see our spouse the way he does. When we humble ourselves and open our hearts to love the trade off is amazing! We get to fall in love day after day with Jesus and with each other! I want to challenge you to be intentional about going out on a date with your spouse this week. Throw the excuses out the window and set intentional time aside for each other. Believe me, your kids will thank you later on in life.###