How is your relationship with your spouse lately?
If you have a hard time answering that question, perhaps you need to take the time to pause and reflect about your marriage today.
In a time of a global pandemic, it is not always “marriage as usual.” You may be grateful to be with your family at this time of quarantine, but worries, uncertainties, and responsibilities could still pile up and get the best of you and your partner.
To help you overcome these marital challenges, Beyond Small Talk hosts Lara Quigaman-Alcaraz and husband Marco are here to share tips on how to grow your relationship with your spouse even when you are stuck with each other 24/7.
1. Pray together and seek God as a family
Have you ever tried praying together your family? Seeking God’s presence has never been more important in these trying times.
As Marco shared, “Pray for each other, pray together as husbands and wives, and pray as a family.” Through prayers, invite God to reign over situations where you need Him most.
2.Read the Bible together
In good and bad times, where do you and your spouse turn to? Marco suggests that you turn to praying and Bible-reading.
3. Develop a personal relationship with God
Having a relationship with God matters. He is the glue that holds all your other relationships together.
4. Love God more than your spouse and your children
Make your relationship with God your highest priority, over everyone and everything else in your life. You would be amazed by how He would take care of your relationship with your spouse and children.
5. Acknowledge that you cannot do anything apart from God
Recognizing God as all-powerful takes a lot of humility And it’s important for a good reason: Humbling yourself before God also allows Him to do His work in your family. You need to recognize that apart from Him, you cannot do anything.
As Jesus said in John 15:5 NLT, “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”
6. Talk to each other openly and honestly
You and your husband cope differently in a crisis. That’s why it’s important to openly communicate with each other to understand your needs and responsibilities as husband and wife.
7. Never stop pursuing your wife
If you’re the husband, Marco advises that you continue to pursue your wife, even after you’ve already won her heart. It’s God who gave her to you. No matter how simple, make sure to give encouraging words and gestures that would fill up her love tank.
8. Submit to, respect, and serve your husband
If you’re a wife, Lara encourages you to submit to, respect, and serve your husband. Loving him unconditionally is like serving God by being a good steward of marriage.
9. Focus on and appreciate the good things that your spouse does for you
Instead of focusing on your partner’s negative behaviors and mistakes, why not focus on the positives?
Appreciating the good things help strengthen your relationship. If a pressing matter needs to be dealt with, do it with all humility, gentleness, and patience (Ephesians 4:2 ESV). Remember that like you, your spouse is still a work in progress.
10. Forgive each other
Ephesians 4:32 ESV encourages you to be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. You cannot love God and not forgive your spouse. God wants both of you to constantly forgive each other, just as Jesus constantly forgives you.
11. Put your trust in Jesus Christ alone
Above all, people and seasons change, but God’s love remains forever. As Lara puts it, “He is the only one who never changes. He is good all the time.”
For better and for worse, may you always trust Him and make Him the center of your marriage.
Do you need someone to help you pray for your marriage? You may call the CBN Asia Prayer Center at 8-737-0-700, or send in your prayer requests to our Facebook page.
Stay tuned to the next webisode of Beyond Small Talk on Saturday, October 2, 2021, on The 700 Club Asia Facebook page.
