The Cause of Marriage Stress in Christian Marriage

What causes marriage stress? Well, believe it or not, your words have the power to cause a lot of stress and damage in your marriage. That is, when you choose not to control them. The right words can extinguish a volatile situation, but the wrong words can add fuel to an already blazing fire. Imagine for a moment that a fire started in your home. What would you do? Would you throw wood on the flames to keep them burning, or would you make an attempt to put the fire out? My guess is that your first reaction would probably be to put out the flames. Although you're not a fire expert, you know enough about fire to know that if you don't put out the flames they will destroy everything in their path. So your natural instinct is to locate water and douse the flames. Now imagine you arrive home from a hard day at work and your spouse says something to you that you don't like, something flammable, something that has the potential of growing into an out of control fire; what do you do? Add fuel to the fire by responding with harsh words? or put the flames out before they get out of control? Your flesh will undoubtedly want to lash out, but the correct answer is you should put out the flames. If you feed the fire and let it grow, you will find yourself in a very destructive situation with your spouse. A situation that will find you saying and doing things you'll regret later. A situation that will not bring honor to God but will instead bring much satisfaction to the devil. So, how do you avoid this? How do you put out the fire? Well, firefighters use water to extinguish fires and you can do the same. In the Bible, the word water often represents the Spirit of God. So, the next time you see sparks in your marriage, the first sign of a fire, get out your spiritual hose and douse it with the Spirit of God. In other words, take a deep breath, think carefully, and give a gentle answer. Remember, "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but harsh words stir up anger, " Proverbs 15:1. It's all about how YOU respond. Your response will either alleviate marriage stress or ignite it. To receive even more valuable Christian Marriage Tips, meet us over at Christian Marriage Today. We'll be waiting for you!