Eph. 5:33 Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverences her husband.

 When a couple get married, then they should treat each other with kindness and respect.  A spouse is the one person in the world who should know us and love us like no other. That relationship can help us to get through this life with joy and contentment.

I feel so sad when I see a married couple talking harshly to each other. A spouse should be cherished.  It sickens me to see the commercials for a show called Marriage Boot Camp on TV. They scream, call names, hit, and betray each other. They are so nasty and childish to their spouse. It made me think that they don’t need counseling – they need to become Christians!  They need to serve each other. They need to treat each other with respect and kindness. 

Marriage is hard. You have to learn to love, serve, and support someone who is so different from you.

There are so many great books and other resources for people who are looking to improve or save their marriage, but the one thing that will help your marriage more than anything is to develop a deep love of Christ and His teachings. If we love Christ and study His words, then we will want to obey His teachings. He taught us to love and serve one another. He taught us to forgive and not hold grudges. He taught us to give freely of our time and substance. Christ taught us to never hurt or offend.

These teachings especially apply to our spouse. Except for the case of abuse or abandonment, marriages should be saved and nurtured. The benefits of a righteous marriage far outweigh the costs of nurturing it. 

“I am satisfied that happiness in marriage is not so much a matter of romance as it is an anxious concern for the comfort and well-being of one’s companion. Any man who will make his wife’s comfort his first concern will stay in love with her throughout their lives and through the eternity yet to come” (Gordon B. Hinckley. Anchorage, Alaska, regional conference, 18 June 1995).