I read about two Baltimore couples — the Chambers, who celebrated their 80th wedding anniversary and the Tymkiw\u2019s marked their 70th anniversary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s what I call \u201cvows made; vows kept\u201d. So, what was the secret of their successful unions? The couples said it was a combination of shared values, mutual respect, faith, and a lot of laughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those stories reminded me of a blog that I have posted more than once. It bears repeating for my married and to-be married friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Keys to a Happy Marriage
1 – Keep God first. By loving God more than your spouse, you will always be humble enough to love your spouse more than humanly possible. Matthew 6:33 — \u201cBut seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2 – Divorce is not an option. From the beginning, remove the word \u201cdivorce\u201d from your vocabulary. People do not look for a door where one does not exist. Mark 10:9 — \u201cTherefore what God has joined together, let no man separate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3 – Marriage is not 50\/50. Make it your goal to give 100% every day. Colossians 3:23 — \u201cWhatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4 – Know your spouse\u2019s love language. People speak love in different ways: gifts, acts of service, words of affirmation, physical touch, intentional time. Figure out that love language and make love grow! Romans 12:9 — \u201cLove must be sincere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5 – Expect the best of each other. Forgive easily. Look for ways to humbly be kind to your spouse. Keep short accounts. Don\u2019t worry about being right. Colossians 3:13 — \u201cBear with each other and forgive one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6 – Keep dating. Your marriage must be a priority. Seek God first, then your spouse. Never stop dating and pursuing each other. Value and celebrate your love. Song of Solomon 3:2 –\u201cI must seek the one my soul loves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7 – Build each other up. Look for ways to encourage each other. Every day. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 — \u201cTherefore encourage one another and build each other up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
8 – Laugh often. Find reasons to be silly. Smile and be lighthearted. You\u2019ll laugh about it later so make up your mind to laugh about it today. Proverbs 17:22 — \u201cA cheerful heart is good medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
9 – Live within your means. Couples who get in debt stay stressed. Living within your means can be great fun. Take walks. Play board games. Visit your park. Clip coupons. Hebrews 13:5 — \u201cKeep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
10 – Fix yourself. Not your spouse. Work to be kinder and gentler. Be the person your spouse married. Listen well. Be intentional. Matthew 7:3 \u201c — Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in
your brother\u2019s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my own final words for thought and application to you AND me — live like there is no tomorrow. Live with no regrets. Be writing your love story every day. I did. I do. I will.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I read about two Baltimore couples — the Chambers, who celebrated their 80th wedding anniversary and the Tymkiw\u2019s marked their 70th anniversary. That\u2019s what I call \u201cvows made; vows kept\u201d. So, what was the secret of their successful unions? The couples said it was a combination of shared values, mutual respect, faith, and a lot…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18514,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[27540,27539],"tags":[1210,1769,24273,4343,267,3677,27538,40,24275,14155,21323,14809,27537,27534,27535,27533],"class_list":["post-18513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-secret-to-successful-marriage","category-successful-marriage-keys","tag-blog","tag-christian","tag-divorce-is-not-an-option","tag-encourage-each-other","tag-faith","tag-forgive","tag-give-100","tag-inspiration","tag-keep-dating","tag-keep-god-first","tag-keys-to-a-happy-marriage","tag-laugh-often","tag-lot-of-laughter","tag-secret-of-successful-marriages","tag-shared-values","tag-vows-made"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18513"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18513\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18521,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18513\/revisions\/18521"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}