Let’s Have Some Fun - Loving (and Liking) Your Spouse for Life

“Be joyful at your festival—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns. For seven days celebrate the festival to the LORD your God at the place the LORD will choose. For the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.” (Deuteronomy 16:14-15, NIV)

If you think having fun as husband and wife doesn’t sound very spiritual, think again. The Old Testament is full of feasts and celebrations. Revelation 19:9 tells us about the great marriage supper of the Lamb. David writes there is joy in God’s presence with eternal pleasures at His right hand (Psalm 16:11). It sounds like being in God’s presence will be a lot of fun.

When you were dating your spouse, it was fun. Fun played a role in bringing you together and it can help keep you together. If “fun” is not the word you would use to describe your marriage right now, the good news is that this is easily fixed! You don’t need a huge budget or a one-week vacation to have fun again. Laughter is free. Watch a favorite comedian together. Look through old videos and laugh at your funny haircuts or how silly you used to be. Make a list of activities you both enjoy and put one on the calendar this month.

James is athletic and I am not, so when he signed up our family of five for a martial arts class at Blue Dragon, I wasn’t exactly thrilled. We packed into our minivan two to three times a week for almost four years to sweat, kick, punch, and laugh together. I learned from my experience at Blue Dragon that you don’t necessarily have to do something well to have fun. My roundhouse kick never developed into anything to fear, but I did connect with James and my kids in an unforgettable, funny family memory.

Martial arts may be out of the question, but is there something else that could be fun to learn or pick up again with your spouse? Doing new things and laughing together make marriage fun again. When marriage is too serious with bills and therapy and parenting problems, moving your body and getting out isn’t frivolous. It may be the boost your marriage needs to get through the next season with joy and closeness. It’s really easy to like someone you are having fun with.

Our days can blend together with very little variation. Just like the children of Israel had their festivals to look forward to, you can plan celebrations, both small and big, to be bright spots in your marriage.

Prayer:

Lord, You are a God of rejoicing! Help me to experience more of your joy and fun in my marriage. Give us ideas of activities we could do together that would be good for us. Fill our mouths with laughter. Help us to trade in our sorrows and worries for Your peace and joy in our home. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.