Greetings and peace be with you AnonymousGender;
Marriage is one of the toughest things you will ever face in life, and nothing ever really prepares you for the problems that lay ahead. The opposite sex are such a pain, and always seem to want things done in a different way. The longer you are married the harder you have to try and persevere with loving kindness
The longer you are married the more chances you have of upsetting your partner, there are so many conflicting needs in a marriage. Suffering with PMT. Or being on the receiving end every month is a challenge. Lack of money, lack of time, being tired, demanding kids, conflicting ways of dealing with the kids, the in laws, there are so many pressures on a marriage that cause problems, time after time, year after year.
These things can drive a wedge between you, and the marriage ends in divorce; or you find ways to cope with these recurring problems time after time. I seem to remember in the UK the average length of a marriage is just 11 years, so many kids grow up knowing different step parents; that is so sad.
Talking about the problems is good, forgiving is even better, without forgiveness the marriage cannot grow. Even if it seems that just one of you is doing most of the forgiving, you must persevere for love to find a way. The test to see if you have forgiven your partner is when you have an argument, do you keep bringing up stuff that happened years ago?
I have known my wife 25 years, the first 25 years have been a challenge, we are slowly changing, maybe if we have another 25 years we shall get a few things right. We still do things that upset each other.
Despite all the problems, arguments, compromises, and disagreements that have happened in our marriage, I am so pleased we have managed to persevere together.
I became a Christian about ten years ago; and my wife became a Christian seven years ago. This has also caused conflicting needs over the last few years, gradually we are coming to the understanding that we both need to put God first.
In the spirit of praying to a merciful and forgiving God,
Eric