A Matter Of Choice - The One Year Devotions for Men on the Go

I pondered the direction of my life, and I turned to follow your statutes. Psalm 119:59

“We just drifted apart.” This is the most common excuse a man gives when he wants out of a marriage. It’s also the foundation for no-fault divorce, or what is legally called irreconcilable differences.

I don’t believe that couples “just drift apart.” Rather, they distance themselves from one another through a series of bad decisions and attitudes.

Do you feel stressed in your relationship with your wife? Then retrace your steps and see where you lost your closeness.

Once you’ve identified what has changed in your lives, then you can take steps—through prayer, counseling, intensive communication, and so forth—to make new changes that need to be made.

Pam and I went through a time in our marriage when everything each of us did seemed to irritate the other. As I retraced my steps, I observed that we had each taken on a full plate of responsibility, but that had been a characteristic of our entire married life. So what was different?

I realized that until the previous year, we had carried much of the load of our responsibilities together and that our current ministry and work responsibilities too often had us functioning independently of each other.

We made choices to bring about change. We moved our offices next to each other, scheduled different kinds of ministry we could do together, and delegated to others ministry responsibilities that would have kept us apart. It wasn’t long before we had recaptured that closeness we once enjoyed.

Pam and I are examples of what I always say about having a happy marriage: It’s all about the choices.

Lord, help me to make the choices that will strengthen my relationship with my wife.