Investing in Your Marriage

Investing in Your Marriage

by Diana Scothorn

The quality of our investment will reciprocate our return. The greater the value of our investment, the greater the return.  I have found to achieve success In any area of your life takes time and investment.

I hear people longing for better relationships, children, bodies, health, and finances.

The word of God is the ultimate advisor on all investments.  My most significant investments outside God’s word are…

…my husband, children, and career.

My husband and I look for new ways to love each other on a regular basis.  We never rely on yesterday’s love to fill us up today. Eating the same food every day for your entire life would get boring!  I feel the same way about love.

It is easy to slip into the habit of taking something you currently possess for granted.  My husband has an easy-going, playful, loving, and patient spirit.  He is confident in who God has called him to be.  We are two strong people with bold confidence in the Lord, yet he is not threatened by who God has called me to be.

Any successful marriage lies on the solid foundation of security in God, to allow each other to be who they are; when you have relationships that are off-balance or top-heavy, so to speak with who is going to be “the boss” causes couples to pull in different directions.

I am grateful to have a confident man of God who allows me to be his wife and the woman  God called me to be. However, we both focus on continually investing in each other. Any level of success, if you are not careful, can begin to become complacent in your yesterday’s victory!

It would be easy to let our relationship slip into a mundane, routine love.  Then before we know it, we would have a dull, everyday relationship. The more I search for ways to love my husband, the greater his love becomes for me!

Galatians 6:7 says, for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Verse 9 says not to be weary in sowing, for in due time, you will reap the harvest.  Although many people take this scripture to be about money only, that is not the case.  When you invest in anything, you will reap the reward!  That includes your spouse.

It is not as easy for most men to be creative about love, so instead of expecting love to be the way I think love should be, I have found that Investing in little ways to love my husband brings clarity to what I want in return.

My husband and I have simple little things we invest each day in one another. They are simple reminders not to take each other for granted.

A good morning kiss before we roll out of bed shows affection the moment our day starts.  He wakes me up playfully every morning, and the moment my feet touch the ground, we wrap our arms around each other and pray.  This shows our commitment to God and each other.

We pray for our marriage, family, friends, careers, and clients.  This shows our commitment to love others. A marriage centered around prayer brings fulfillment

We ask each other how did you sleep, do you feel rested? This shows we care. We ask if we dreamed. God will speak to you in dreams, so we share them. We begin our day in the word, separate from one another, for that is a time for intimacy with God.  This reminds us God comes before our relationship.

We invest in a healthy lifestyle and work out daily.  This keeps our bodies desirable for each other! We thank God every night as we lay in bed for our day, no matter how bad it may have appeared.  God responds to a grateful heart.

We go on date nights once a week a

hold hands as we go to sleep, and everywhere we go!  We take every opportunity to complement one another.  We practice being courteous to listen to each other before interrupting or thinking we know what the other will say.    

James 1:9 says, Therefore”, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.”  This is a continual investment we work on.  This investment pays big dividends!!!

We encourage one another and most important, WE BELIEVE IN EACH OTHER!   The more we learn to love with the heart of Jesus, the more we will see His love in the heart of the ones we love.

John 13:34 says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

When you realize that love is not only a commandment but an investment, and begin to do your part, the rate of return, is worth the weight of the investment.

Simple acts of love make a huge difference in the course of a lifetime of loving. As you invest in loving your husband, you become vested in love for life.