~ Do you Criticize or Complement? ~

Jesus came into my life at the right time and he truly saved my marriage.

It was easy for me to see everything my husband did wrong in the marriage but I was blinded at what I was doing.  One day shortly after rededicating my life to Jesus, I went to church. The pastor was talking about being critical.  The entire service I was holding back tears because I felt like I was the only one in the room.  I realized I had been SO blinded by my critical tongue and I knew that was causing stress in my marriage.

The pastor encouraged everyone who was challenged with being critical to start giving complements instead.

Boy this is harder than it sounds!

But I gave it a shot. I came home from work one day and my husband was home all day.  I had asked him to please take down our new canopy so it wouldn’t get destroyed by the weather.  That was the only request I had before he would be back to working his long hours.

I came home to see the canopy was still up and not moved.  I wanted to ask him why had he not put it away for me?  Instead, I had to bite my critical tongue and give him a complement.

After searching for something to complement him on, he lit up like a light!

If he only knew how hard that was for me…

I have to remind myself to do this often.  In Romans, Paul says we are our own worst enemy.  I know how hard it is to see myself in the mirror but I would rather see myself than to be blinded.

Thank you to my patient husband who has endured with me as I die to my critical nature and learn how to complement and encourage the man I love most.

I still have a long way to go but I AM learning and running…my course.

Laundry Mom~Christina♥