5 Steps to Prioritizing Your Spouse
What does it mean to ‘prioritize your spouse’? It means to make your spouse the most important human in your life.
Here are 5 key elements that will help you prioritize your spouse
1. Prayer and Communication: Prayer and communication are the essential to any successful Christian marriage. Couples should pray together and talk openly about each other's needs and desires. This will allow them to work together and identify what is important to each other and create a plan to meet those needs.
Supporting Verses
Matthew 18:19 (NKJV). “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.”
1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NKJV) “Pray without ceasing.”
2. Selflessness: A key aspect of a Christian marriage is selflessness. In a marriage, the spouses are no longer individuals (Genesis2:24). Each marriage itself is one individual. Therefore, they must conform to each other in a way that works best for the marriage. This requires humility anda willingness to compromise and change. By focusing on meeting each other's needs, couples can build lasting love and respect.
Supporting Verses
Ephesians 4:25 (NKJV)
“Therefore, putting away lying, ‘Let each one ofyou speak truth with his neighbor,’ for we are members of one another.”
James 1:19 (NKJV)
“So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.”
3. Understanding Each Other's Love Language: Every person has a unique way of feeling loved and appreciated. Learning each other's love language can help spouses understand how to meet each other's needs and desires more effectively. The five love languages are words of affirmation, acts of service, receiving gifts, quality time, and physical touch.
Supporting Verses
Philippians 2:4 (NKJV)
"Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but alsofor the interests of others."
1 Peter 3:7 (NKJV)
"Husbands, like wise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered."
4. Supporting Each Other's Goals: Each spouse should support and encourage the other in pursuing their goals and dreams. This may require sacrifice and compromise, but it is important to prioritize each other's call. By working together, couples can build a strong marriage that can withstand any issues.
Supporting Verses
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (NKJV)
“Two are better than one, because they havea good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up.”
Romans 12:10 (NKJV)
“Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another.”
5. Forgiveness and Grace: No marriage is perfect, all of us are human. Mistakes and setbacks are bound to happen. It is important to practice forgiveness and grace in these situations. This allows couples to grow together. Through forgiveness and grace, couples can create a safe and loving environment where both partners can feel valued and supported.
Supporting Verses
Colossians 3:13 (NKJV)
“bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.”
Ephesians 4:32(NKJV)
“And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”
Prioritizing your spouse means making him/her the most important human onearth. Each must treat the other asthemselves. By doing so, not only will youachieve a successful marriage but also a powerful one that will accomplish all that God has planned for you.
