Learning to Talk to One Another
Kay Arthur
Precepts for Life
(Excerpted from Prayers to Bless Your Marriage. Copyright 2003 by Kay Arthur. Used by permission of Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR. All rights reserved.)
Traditionally, June is the month for weddings. But after the wedding, the reality begins: marriage. One of the most important elements to a healthy marriage is good communication. This month, we'll focus on learning to talk to one another in marriage, and pray for our marriages, whether we're just beginning our lives together, or if we've been married for decades.
In a marriage, both partners have a need for a sense of security - the guarantee of acceptance, of love…especially from one another. We need to know we have worth as individuals - that our lives as a man and as a woman count for something, that there is a purpose for our existence, for our marriage.
And how do we affirm this to one another? By talking. By listening. By caring enough to communicate. We communicate in so many different ways. Sometimes with a look and other times with a touch. Yet in our marriage, there needs to be words. We need to hear each other's voice, what the other is thinking, feeling, dealing with, dreaming of.
The way we communicate with one another can make a difference in whether our marriage is strong or weak, one of joy or of pain, one of health and wholeness or destruction. It is all in the art of communication, and it literally permeates every aspect of marriage.
One of us loves to talk. The other is quieter. However, because healthy communication is critical to our relationship, we need to do whatever it takes to learn to communicate in an effective way. Nothing else shows more clearly that we truly care for and value our loved one above ourselves.
How we need to learn to listen to one another: to permit and encourage honesty, openness, vulnerability. To exchange thoughts, ideas, hopes, dreams, fears, and failures with one another in such a way that we free each other to share without fear, rejection, or judgment. When we talk in this way, it bonds us at a new and deeper level, and it gives us the courage to work out the issues we face as husband and wife in order to meet the future together with confidence. This is the life-support system of the strong and unshakable marriage we desire. "Learning to Talk to One Another" article continued
Any student of the Bible might wonder why the book of Genesis devotes more space to Joseph's life than to Adam and Eve, the first couple, or to Noah, the hero of the ark and the flood, or to Abraham, father of the Jewish nation. I believe the answer is that Joseph illustrates one of life's most important choices: the choice to forgive. "Life's Most Important Choice" Dr. Robert Jeffress, PATHWAY TO VICTORY
One of the first recorded sentences God ever uttered about the man whom He created was the following: "It is not good for the man to be alone" (Genesis 2:18). It is imperative that we know how to develop godly friendships. "Created For Godly Friendships" Dr. Michael Youssef, LEADING THE WAY
Everybody wants to feel connected. We seek it on the playground, gym, Sunday school class, fraternal organizations and more. "Feeling Connected" Dr. Glenn Mollette, PATHWAY OF LIGHT
Through confessing an area of weakness in his own life and marriage, Chuck explains the necessity of allowing grace into your marriage relationship by trusting your spouse and setting him or her free. Jealous, controlling thoughts and behavior that merely reflect one's own fears and insecurities will smother and stifle your spouse and, therefore, your marriage. "Marital Grace" Chuck Swindoll, INSIGHT FOR LIVING
May the Lord richly bless you!
The Oneplace.com Team
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