The Most Important Element to Protect in a Marriage

Imagine you
e eight years old, and you receive the Christmas gift you always wanted. Its a little, brown puppy, small enough to hold in your hands and cute enough to steal your heart. You name her Grace and you carry her around all day. With her little nose and her cute eyes, its love at first sight.

You even take her to bed with you. So what if she smells like a dog? So what if she does her business on your pillow? Can’t say you think thats cute, but you don’t mind. Mom and Dad make it clear that in your “prenuptial agreement,” you
e Grace’s caretaker and you
e happy to oblige.

You clean the food dish, open her can of puppy food, and fill her water bowl–you do everything to keep her little tail wagging. However, after a few weeks, your feelings change a little bit. Graces still your dog and your friend, but you grow weary with her barking, and constant appetite–boy, she seems hungry an awful lot.

More than once, your parents remind you to take care of her, telling you that shes your dog! You don’t like hearing those words, she’s your dog. You don’t mind the phrase, your dog to play with, or your dog when she was behaving. But your parents said, “Shes your dog period. In sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, in dryness and wetness.”

I’m sure when you read that last sentence, it occurred to you that you
e stuck with Grace. The courtship is over and the honeymoon has ended. You are mutually leashed. Grace went from an option to an obligation. From a cute pet to a chore. From someone to play with to someone to care for. Can you relate when you hear the word commitment? When you are told: She’s your dog. She’s your wife. He’s your husband?

Many will say the most important word in your marriage is the commitment.

I feel it’s very important, but the most important word in my opinion is relationship. Your commitment won’t last very long if your relationship goes south– for whatever reason.

This is a cute make-believe story, but in real life, after the amazing wedding and the exciting honeymoon, after a few months of everyday life as a married couple, marriage can start to feel like the little girl does with the puppy.

Here’s where the real relationship begins. I know I’m sounding negative here, but I want you to understand that as you begin your life together,

Your relationship is your most important thing to protect.

Everything in life, including people, can compromise your relationship. Your relationship or connection to each other is always something to protect.

As our short story indicated, the feeling and emotions will sometimes change, but your relationship can stand tall because of your commitment and the positive choices you make together.

I remind the couples I had the privilege to marry to not let anything or anyone come between their relationship with each other!

In my future articles, I’d like to share things you can do to protect your relationship.

Until next week,

FarmerD