{"id":752,"date":"2016-03-22T14:05:36","date_gmt":"2016-03-22T19:05:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/samuelrainey.com\/blog\/?p=752"},"modified":"2016-03-22T14:05:36","modified_gmt":"2016-03-22T19:05:36","slug":"the-two-most-important-concepts-in-marriage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/samuelrainey.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/the-two-most-important-concepts-in-marriage\/","title":{"rendered":"The Two Most Important Concepts in Marriage"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"9928188563_60d4523c3a_z\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I recently finished some pre-marital couples counseling with a delightful young couple. Before I released them to the wild world of marriage, I challenged them to adopt two words (concepts) as cornerstones for their upcoming union: Grace and gratitude. Here\u2019s why:<\/p>\n

Showing grace implies forgiveness, acceptance, and a belief that your spouse is a better man\/woman than what the offending action shows. It\u2019s easy to get offended or hurt and turn away from them as protection. Next time this happens show them grace by placing your hand on their chest over their heart and say, \u201cI don\u2019t believe that you intended to harm me, and that you do love and care for me.\u201d Watch what happens next.<\/p>\n

The second is gratitude. As a whole, we are not that grateful of a people. Instead, we are an entitled people. It feels like a personal insult when I ask my wife to do something and she either forgets, or doesn\u2019t do it the way I wanted her to do it. Rarely do I encounter couples that genuinely like each other. Most couples remember liking each other, but I\u2019m not in the line of work that usually gets to hang out with folks who are in that stage of life. But even outside of my profession I don\u2019t see a lot of couples who seem grateful for one another. Entitlement will destroy your relationship \u2014 Gratitude will repair and heal your relationship.<\/p>\n

Practice giving thanks to your spouse, for even the smallest of items.
\n\u201cThank you for smiling at me this morning.\u201d
\n\u201cThank you for sitting next to me on the couch.\u201d
\n\u201cThank you for turning off the TV and listening to my tough day.\u201d
\n\u201cThank you for marrying me.\u201d
\n\u201cThank you \u2026 <fill in the blank>\u201d<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t take a lot to change the tune of your day, or your spouse\u2019s day. Show them grace, and gratitude, and see how quickly you begin to like them again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recently finished some pre-marital couples counseling with a delightful young couple. Before I released them to the wild world of marriage, I challenged them to adopt two words (concepts) as cornerstones for their upcoming union: Grace and gratitude. Here\u2019s why: Showing grace implies forgiveness, acceptance, and a belief that your spouse is a better […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[13,12],"tags":[88,86,87,27,8],"class_list":["post-752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-communication","category-couples","tag-couples","tag-grace","tag-gratitude","tag-marriage","tag-relationships"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Two Most Important Concepts in Marriage — Five Minute Sherpa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/samuelrainey.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/the-two-most-important-concepts-in-marriage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Two Most Important Concepts in Marriage — Five Minute Sherpa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I recently finished some pre-marital couples counseling with a delightful young couple. 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