Strengthen Your Marriage Today!

I heard a statistic recently.  It made me so sad.  "Data released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau shows married couples have found themselves in a new position: They're no longer the majority." - ABC News.  Of course my mind starts thinking, what can I do?  How can I stop this trend? 

There are reasons for this occurrence according to ABC News - "The reason, said Portland State University demographer Charles Rynerson, is twofold: The fast-growing older population is more likely to be divorced or widowed later in life, and 20-somethings are putting off their nuptials for longer stretches."

What does that tell you?  It tells me that Evangelical Christians are not doing enough to strengthen their marriages.  Divorce rates are just as high among Christians as they are among non-Christians.  Now, if you are divorced this is not meant to hurt you or berate you.  Marriage is extremely difficult. It takes a daily decision to put your spouse above yourself. 

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Mark 10:45

There just isn't enough encouragement for married women regarding intimacy.  It is tough to find it on the internet.  Christians just don't want to talk about it.  But the world - it is all they talk about.  There are so many "women's" magazines out there showing you how to seduce your man.  We need to talk about this.  We need to wake up to the fact that this is a serious issue to our husbands.  It is pretty much number one on their list.

Of course American culture tells you that you should be on equal footing.  You shouldn't have to give up what you want for your husband.  You should be able to do it all - work outside the home or work in the home, menu plan, coupon, grocery shopping, teach the kiddos their ABC's, run them to soccer practice and then collapse into bed each night praying your husband is already asleep.

Don't pretend you haven't been there.  We all have.  I hate it that I wasted so much time doing so many other "good" things and ignoring one of the best things about marriage.

Here are some articles on the subject from women much wiser than myself:

Enjoying Intimacy

Embracing Physical Intimacy (video blog) - excellent

30 Days of Prayer for your Husband - His S*xuality

She has good practical tips:

A Clean Shower
The Love List
Drawer of Many Blessings

Since making changes in my own life, it has strengthened my marriage in ways I never thought possible.  It is amazing to see what God can do.  Please don't make your marriage an after thought. 

I read a blog (I can't remember what it was) where the woman said so many women think they need to make their men fancy dinners and keep the house immaculate to make their husband's happy when really you could make them a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and give them the gift of yourself and they would be thrilled!  It is true.

My point of today's post is there is something we can do about this whole marriage declining thing - strengthen our own marriage.  Stack the deck in marriage's favor.  And if you don't know where to start, just start somewhere.  And don't believe the lies that the enemy tries to tell you that you aren't thin enough or attractive enough.  And lest you think that this is all about your spouse and you are giving up so much and you will get nothing in return - TRUST ME, you will be amazed at what you gain by putting intimacy as a high priority in your marriage.

There is a reason that there are so many warnings about wayward women in Proverbs and how they can destroy a man.  Women do have the power to destroy men.  They also have the power to build them up.  Which one will you choose?

I really do want to encourage you to take a stand for marriage in this culture starting with your own marriage.  Do all you can do to strengthen it!  Put your marriage as one of your top priorities.  Pray, pray and pray some more.  Ask God to give you the strength to do this.  He will be faithful.