Why is it that those we love most often get our worst behavior?
A few weeks ago, after an especially difficult week, my husband and my marriage took the brunt of my frustration.
It wasn’t his fault my son kept peeing through his diaper every single night for a week. (Seriously, even the overnight diapers couldn’t keep it all in. And can I just add, mattress covers are a PAIN to get off and on to clean every day!) It wasn’t his fault my website kept going down. It wasn’t his fault one of my best friends was moving away. It wasn’t his fault I felt overwhelmed.
But I acted like it was. I treated him like I would never treat a stranger.
It’s sad, isn’t it, that we treat our spouses and our kids in ways we wouldn’t think of treating someone we barely know?
Shortly after my rough week, I opened up Sheila Wray Gregoire’s newest book, 9 Thoughts That Can Change Your Marriage.
And yeah, guess what chapter 1 was all about. It was about treating your spouse like you would treat your neighbor. In Luke 10, Jesus told his followers to love their neighbors as they love themselves.
The truth is, our neighbors aren’t only those who live in the houses next door. Our neighbors are also those who share our homes-our kids and our spouses.
If you want to improve your marriage, start treating your spouse as kindly as you treat your next door neighbor…or your child’s teacher…or your minister at church.
If you want to improve your marriage, make an effort to give your spouse more kindness than you’d give someone you barely know. Or, at the very least, give them the same amount of compassion and understanding.
Sheila wrote, “Most of us save our best behavior for those whom we barely know and show our worst side to those we know the best.” One simple thing we can all do to improve our marriages is to start turning this quote upside down.
My husband doesn’t deserve my worst behavior. He deserves more than that.
And my guess is, so does yours.
If you’re looking for a new marriage book to dig into, I highly recommend Sheila’s new book.
It offers REAL solutions to REAL problems people face in their marriages. And it does so without giving pat Christian answers.
Sheila walks through 9 specific thoughts you can change that will make a huge impact on your marriage. Some of these thoughts include:
-My husband is my neighbor.
-My husband is not put on this earth to make me happy.
-Being one is more important than being right.
And more!
Check it out at Sheila’s website.
*I received this book for free, but all opinions are my own. I was not required to write a positive review of this book.
What about you? Why do you think we often treat those closest to us worse than we treat people we barely know? Leave your thoughts in the comments!
