As a married woman of today, I’m sure that you’ve noticed the trend that I have noticed. More people are getting divorced, separated, and remaining single. There are more people encouraging us to take care of ourselves than there are inspiring us to nurture our marriages and relationships with our husbands. People want us to be busy fulfilling our roles outside of the home, in ministry, and in the community, but often times the calling of wife goes without encouragement. There are many reasons as to why this is so rampant, but today I want to encourage you with 7 quotes that inspire healthy marriages.
Pulling Away to Scoot Closer
I’ve spent over 15 years with my husband and I know from experience that what I listen to, read, and pour into myself will affect my relationship with him. If I am struggling within myself with issues, it takes a tole on my marriage. If I am to busy cultivating other relationships and forget about my husband, our relationship will feel distant. However, when I am balanced in my efforts and attentive to his needs, the needs of our marriage, and my call as a wife, our relationship blossoms.
Let’s be honest. Sometimes we get to busy to stop and think about what we could be doing to make our marriages better. We get too busy parenting and doing other things. When we go to bed at night, it is too easy to lie down next to our husbands, while on the phone, watching television, or even reading a book, all the while forgetting that there is someone next to us that we need to connect with. We have to be attentive and conscious of this and force ourselves to turn off the devices, put away the book, remove any fear, and turn to that man to just spend sometime cuddling. Who knows where that will lead, but quality time is what your marriage needs.
Today, I want you to spend sometime reading and pondering over these quotes. Make sure that you consider every detail of what is being said. Prayerfully dissect the statements and figure out how you can apply them to your life and marriage.
7 Quotes that Inspire Healthy Marriages
- “A great marriage is mostly about two people committing to each other and then employing principles such as love, acceptance, patience, forgiveness, sacrifice, and unselfishness, to enrich that committed relationship. Marriage is more about work that divine luck, more about finding someone to love than about finding someone to meet your laundry list of personal needs.” ~Mark Gungor from Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage
- ” I can honestly say that I have become a better wife -and a better Christian- when I became a better helper. Realizing I am on assignment from God to help my husband opened my eyes. According to God’s plan I was not to compete with Jim. Instead, I am to be solidly behind him and supportive of him. He is the one who is supposed to win, and I am supposed to help make his victory possible.” ~Elizabeth George from A Woman After God’s Own Heart
- “What your husband wants is your acknowledgement that he is the leader, the one in authority. This is not to grind you under or treat you as inferior. It is only to say that because God has made your husband responsible (review Ephesians 5:25-33), he needs the authority to carry out that responsibility. No smoothly running organization can have two heads. To set up a marriage with two equal at the head is to set it up for failure. That is one of the big reasons that people are divorcing right and left today. In essence, the marriages do not have anyone who is in charge. God knew someone had to be in charge, and that is why Scripture clearly teaches that in order for things to work, the wife is called upon to defer to her husband. Wives often tell me that if they submit to their husbands, it means burying their brains and becoming a doormat. If you want to work with your husband to reach mutually satisfying decisions most of the time, follow this principle: GO ON RECORD WITH YOUR HUSBAND THAT YOU SEE HIM AS HAVING 51 PERCENT OF THE RESPONSIBILITY AND THEREFORE, 51 PERCENT OF THE AUTHORITY. Tell Him that you see him as having more authority because he has more responsibility before God -the responsibility to die for you, if necessary. My prediction is that the nature of your arguments and disagreements will change dramatically. Once you go on record about his authority, he will not feel you are trying to be the boss. As you submit (which simply means recognizing his biblically given authority), you will not be a doormat. ~Dr. Emerson Eggeriches from Love & Respect
- “You don’t have to agree with your partner to be a good listener.” ~Markman, Stainley, and Blumberg from Fight for Your Marriage
- “See, marriages have issues because there are two people involved, growing together. If there were never issues, someone should be concerned because that would mean that stagnation is present. Marriage makes you better and it makes him better too. Just look at the issues, chew up the meat and spit out the bones because some of it is just hogwash.” ~Makeda Rodriguez from Being Mrs. Mom: A Christian Woman Wife and Mother Living in the 21st Century
- “People who stay married live four years longer than people who don’t” ~John M Gottman, PH. D., from The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work
- “Taking Time to listen means putting aside your plans and concentrating on what the other person has to say. Don’t get defensive if he or she wants to point out a short coming. If you do the other person will stop being honest and communication is lost.” ~Phil & Susy Downer from Optimize Your Marriage
These are just a few quotes from the books that I have in my personal library. I would encourage you to purchase and read them. Also pray over these quotes and ask God to help you understand the message at their core. Seek to grow as a woman, so that you can be a better wife.
My prayer for you is that God would give both you and your husband godly influences that would inspire you to cultivate a long and healthy marriage.