We all know people who are enduring marriage. Life is short and a marriage is to safeguard a life of peace, pleasure, and prosperity in the safety of a married partner. Unfortunately, many marriages today are suffering because one or both partners have given up on their marriage. They’re enduring instead of enjoying each other. Today I want to give you five keys that will breathe fresh life into your marriage.

1. Marriage can be bliss or it can be
a curse. God instituted mar-riage
therefore; it is supposed to be
a blessing. God is always for a good
marriage but it’s up to two people to
decide what the quality of the rela-tionship
will be.
We all know people who are endur-ing
marriage. Life is short and a
marriage is to safeguard a life of
peace, pleasure, and prosperity in
the safety of a mate. Unfortunately,
many marriages today are suffering
because one or both partners have
given up on their marriage. They’re
enduring instead of enjoying each
other. Today I want to give you five
keys that will breathe fresh life into
your marriage.
1. Have a vision for your marriage.
Without a goal, anyone can be lost
in transit. Unless we have clear
goals, we’ll be confused at best. A
goal can be spiritual, financial, phys-ical,
or emotional. Unless both
spouses know what they want from
each other, it is hard to please the
other person. Talk about your expec-tations,
write them down, and then
revisit them periodically to make sure
you’re making progress. Life comes
in seasons. Stay current with your
needs and the season you’re in.
2. Speak life. Our lives are as good
as the words we speak. This may
sound absurd but there’s tremen-dous
power in our words. Think
about it! God spoke the world into
existence. When we speak positive,
uplifting words over ourselves and
each other, we’ll eat the fruit of it.
Words are like an echo; whatever we
send out will come back to us. It is
easy to make sarcastic, hurtful, and
cutting remarks but like a burn,
those words sting our souls for
months to come. On the contrary,
when we make a positive deposit of
building our mate up with words, it’s
like putting money in a savings ac-count.
You can draw all you want,
limited only by what you put in. If
we’re drawing more than we deposit,
one day we may have to face a
bankruptcy. When you’re upset and
you feel like speaking out the most is
the time for you to say the least.
Make a habit of saying something
good about your spouse every single
day. A person can live on a kind,
appreciative word for a month!
Speak life.
3. Focus on what’s working. For-give
and forget what your partner
did in 1957! Bury the past and for-give
quickly. Fight for peace and not
for winning arguments. Most people
make the mistake of focusing on
what’s not working. Remember, no-body
is perfect — not even you! If
we’re using all our energy looking
for faults then we’ll not have any
energy left to find the gold in the
other. Remind yourself why you fell
in love. Find ways to unite. Invest in
each other. A marriage left alone is
like a beautiful garden only to some-day
be taken over by weeds. If you
stay focused on planting good seeds,
your garden will continue to produce
beautiful flowers.
4. Communicate. People are not
mind-readers. Find a way to express
your feelings without the drama. You
have to be precise but you also have
to be diplomatic. Don’t tell it the way
SandyAndersonLive or
Build International Ministries
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it is. When, and how, you share your
feelings is as important as what you
share. Ninety percent of our commu-nication
is non-verbal. Hold hands,
look each other in the eye. When we
say a hard thing in a kind way, it’s a
lot more palatable. When you make
a mistake don’t make excuses. Be
the bigger person and say, “I made
a mistake. I’m sorry. It won’t happen
again.” Become a lifelong learner of
communication.
5. Enjoy each other. Nobody likes to
be around a stick in the mud. Yes,
we need to save for the future but
don’t be stingy. Details are important
and the house doesn’t get cleaned
by itself but why don’t you do it with-out
complaining about it. We live in
a stressful world. Take a leisurely
walk in the park, go to a movie, and
take a vacation without the kids.
Have plenty of sex. You have the li-cense;
use it before it expires! Even
the doctors are now saying that it’s
good for your body, emotions, spirit,
and soul! Never let the magic die in
your marriage. Remember, fun
doesn’t have to cost a lot of money.
It’s time, effort, and creative thinking
that keeps your marriage fresh. Have
fun with each other.
Finally, honor God with your mar-riage.
Say and do only things you
would say and do if God was present
with you. In case you’re wondering,
He’s always with you and He is al-ways
for your marriage. I’m praying
for you.
“Two people are better off than one,
for they can help each other suc-ceed”
(Ecclesiastes 4:9 NLT).
Empowering You with
Sandy Anderson
Speak Life into Your Marriage
Build International Ministries | P.O. Box 540909 | Grand Prairie | TX 75054 | buildinternational@sbcglobal.net | 8/14