Habits are a powerful tool which can improve or destroy our lives. The habits that we build—whether good or bad—will greatly affect the course of our life.
The same holds true in our marriage.
Some build great habits of remaining intentional, seeking God first, and keeping family as the earthly priority. Others build the habit of ignoring each other and refusing to seek God in their marriage.
What habits are you building today in your marriage and how do you see them affecting you, your spouse, your kids and the other people around you? Here are five daily habits that couples can build to build a strong and lasting marriage.
1. Seek God Together
Undoubtedly the most important key to a lasting marriage is the habit of seeking God together and making Him the centre of your marriage. This is hands down where 95 percent of the results and growth that you experience will come from.
Matthew 6:33 reminds us, "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." A couple that seeks God together will find God together and be founded solidly on Him.
2. Discuss Important Matters
It's good to have fun by having small talk, jokes, and fun conversations, but we must also make time to talk about important things. Some couples will avoid hard conversations like talks on money, offences, and their life's direction and would just want to see things pan out. But the key to any relationship is to communicate even when it's hard to.
3. Keep a Strong Prayer Routine
Praying and praying together are powerful arsenals to a marriage that last. When we pray together, we align spiritually and approach God together with the same heart and the same mind. God looks for people who worship (and pray) in Spirit and Truth (John 4:24) and enjoys seeing us together.
4. Keep Accountability
Intimacy means making yourself fully known to someone. Many are quick to make known their strengths, dreams, ambitions and victories but will quickly hide their weaknesses and struggles. That's what Adam and Eve did after sinning against God—they hid. But God wants us to be fully known to Him and to each other. If there should be anyone to have as an accountability partner, it should be your spouse.
5. Do Small But Meaningful Things for Each Other
You've probably heard it said before: "Don't sweat the small stuff." However, we can't deny that many times it's the small things that are missed out. As a result, they pile up and become big things. That being said, we must focus on the small things and make an effort to do small but meaningful things for one another.
