What are we talking about today?
Did you know that, statistically, the hardest season of marriage is when you have young children in the home? The reality of life is that marriage takes work! It’s not always roses and butterflies.
Even in a healthy Christian marriage, we are easily tempted to focus on other things ahead of our husbands – we get distracted by the kids, overwhelmed by the schedule, and frustrated with chores and communication breakdowns.
So today, we’re looking at 3 practical ways you can love your husband well and invest in your Christian marriage – even when life feels distracting or discouraging. YOU can bless and strengthen your Christian family life by investing in your marriage relationship!
Let’s dive in.
Listen to Episode 92:
If today’s topic is meaningful to you, you’ll also want to check out these earlier podcast episodes that connect with this same topic:
- Episode 7 // Who do you see everyday? Your family. Let’s dig into what it means to love them well, and why it matters.
- Episode 12 // 6 Creative Ideas For Devotional Time With Your Husband to grow spiritual intimacy in your marriage
- Episode 30 // Deepen your marriage in 5 minutes a day with this simple and fun activity … which is also foundational to a healthy relationship and happy marriage!
- Episode 64 // 9 hot tips to make sure your marriage has amazing intimacy in the bedroom
[This post may contain affiliate links. If a purchase is made, I may receive a small commission at no extra charge to you.]
Snag your resources here!
If you’re working on communication, one of the best places to start is in your marriage. This 40 Day Devotional will walk you through specific Scriptures, along with guided reflection questions and communication starters, to strengthen communication in your marriage.
Let me also offer a FREE resource that I know will be helpful:
- When communication is a struggle, conflict is usually a part of the problem. So grab a FREE copy of my 10-Point Conflict Resolution Checklist. When emotions get high, just pull out this checklist and follow the steps to stay calm and productive.
One more for you:
Physical intimacy is an important part of a healthy Christian marriage. But if your intimacy is feeling unimpressive or uninteresting lately, check out these e-courses from Sheila Wray Gregoire for a Christ-centered boost in marital intimacy.
[This post may contain affiliate links. If a purchase is made, I may receive a small commission at no extra charge to you.]
Today's Episode Highlights
One of the foundational pillars of life is loving our family well – and without investing in our marriage, we will always fall short.
It’s easy for husbands and wives to start taking each other for granted. Especially during the busy seasons of life, with little ones at home, important work deadlines, and a long to-do list filling your time!
But these 3 practical steps will help you continue to grow and deepen your marriage, and will bless your entire family at the same time.
3 steps to loving your husband well
Your first priority as a Christian wife: pray for your husband!
Ideally, yes, you will also pray together with him. But you can’t control that part… he may or may not be interested in or willing to pray with you. But you can still (and must still!) pray for him. Do you really believe that prayer works? That it is helpful? Truly, the Holy Spirit can create change in your marriage that you can never create.
The second way to invest in your marriage is to try your best to give your husband the benefit of the doubt. There will always be situations when you disappoint each other, and this is especially hard in an intimate relationship or when there have been repeated instances of failure. But you and he will both be happier when you can try to see the best possible scenario for each other!
Finally, we come to the biblical action step that has a lot of baggage and emotion tied to it in today’s culture. But Ephesians 5:21 is clear about how we are to act within the marriage relationship: “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”
Submission. It’s not easy, but it’s also not about your husband’s worthiness. It’s about Christ. Will your husband always make the right decision? Nope. Does submission mean that you have no say in what’s happening for your family? Nope.
But we cannot tell God “you’re wrong” when we read his Word. Instead, we must wrestle with him in prayer through the hangups and hurts that we’ve experienced with the idea of “submission.” And we must acknowledge that as we live by God’s wisdom (and not our own), our family and our marriage will be blessed.
Some helpful marriage resources
Marriage is hard work. Even a Christian marriage, with Jesus at the center and the Holy Spirit leading and shepherding us!
But having some practical tools in our pocket can make a big difference in the busy seasons of life.
In the Friday Faith Follow-up episode below, I share more about these resources. Here are the links if you want to check them out:
- Use my free 10-Point Conflict Resolution Checklist.
- Try the 40 day Devotional on Communication in Marriage.
- Boost your intimacy with Sheila Wray Gregroie’s e-courses on Christian marital intimacy.
- Two helpful Christian marriage books include The Meaning of Marriage by Timothy Keller and Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas.
Friday Faith Follow-up
In today’s short episode, I’m sharing 5 simple, practical, low-cost resources that will help YOU invest in your Christian marriage in all the right areas. You can find the links to these resources above.
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A reminder of the Disclaimers & Disclosures Policy: I am an affiliate with many of the resources I recommend, which means I may receive a small commission if you make a purchase through my provided links. I never recommend products I don’t love! Also, I am a licensed therapist but this podcast is not therapy. It is not professional or personal advice to your specific situation. Get info about professional counseling here.
