Appreciating Your Spouse

Grab

Give one word (without explaining it) that describes an important quality of your spouse.

Grace

“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing”. (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

Married life especially when the children start coming can be more challenging than what they expected.  Both husband and wife work harder than before as they become bogged down with household chores, financial obligations, and other marital challenges.

Appreciating your spouse can help you go through life’s challenges. A kind word, a helping hand, an understanding look, a relieving back massage are some simple ways to show our spouse that they are appreciated. Appreciation helps bind you with your spouse, knowing that their hard work is not left unnoticed. It helps create a positive impact on your relationship, not looking at what is lacking, rather, what has been done.  Doing so makes you work harder knowing that everything one does is appreciated by your spouse.

With the busyness of life, appreciation may be the last thing in one’s mind.  However, appreciation creates such a positive effect that you would want to use it in your marriage.  It takes little effort to appreciate your spouse, but the effect is far greater than the effort you put into it. Here are some ways you can show appreciation to your spouse:

1. Verbal affirmation. A kind word of praise to express gratitude for the good work your spouse has done. Appreciate him/her for specific things he has done for you. You may also call him/her while at work to say you appreciate the hard work, he/she is doing for the family.

2. Service love. A kind gesture of service like cooking his favorite meal when coming home from a business trip or a back massage after having folded a pile of laundry.

3. Telling others. Sharing with others the good things your spouse has done while he/she is within hearing distance.

4. Spending time with him/her. Spending quality time with each other expresses the importance of your spouse when you give them your undivided attention.

5. Physical gifts. Simple no-occasion gifts show how you appreciate their hard work. This can be as simple as a pint of his/her favorite ice cream or a pack of chips.

Gather

1.   Share one thing that your spouse has done recently which you have not yet shown your appreciation for. Start the sentence with “I appreciate you when you did ___________”

2.   How do you feel when you receive appreciation from your spouse?

Go Forth

Commit to appreciating your spouse at least once a day.