Build a Strong and Happy Marriage

APPLY THE GOLDEN RULE

No doubt you like to be treated with dignity and respect. You appreciate it when your thoughts are acknowledge and your feelings  are taken into account. But have you ever heard someone say,  "I will give him a taste of his own medicine"? While such a reaction might at times be understandable, the  Bible tells us:  "Do not say: 'I will do to him just has he has done to me.' "  (Proverbs 24:29) In fact, Jesus recommended  a more positive way of handling difficult situations.  This rule of conduct is so well-known that it is often called the Golden Rule:  "Just as you  want men to do to you, do the same way to them."  (Luke 6:31) Jesus meant that we should treat people the way we would want to be treated and not repay unkindness with unkindness. In marriage, it means that we need to put into the relationship  what we hope to get out of it.

Married people strengthen their relationship  when they are sensitive to their mate's feelings.  'We have tried  to put the Golden Rule into practice," says a husband in South Africa.  "True, there are times when we're upset, but we have worked hard to treat each other the way we would like to be treated-with respect and dignity." 

Do not expose your mate's weaknesses or harp on his idiosyncrasies-not even jokingly. Remember that marriage is not a competition  to find out who is stronger, who can shout louder, or who can think  of the most cutting remark.  True, we all have flaws, and sometimes we upset others.  But there is never a justifiable reason for either a husband or a wife to use sarcastic and demeaning speech, or worse, to shove or hit each other. -Read Proverbs 17:27; 31:26.

Even though in some cultures men who bully, hit or beat their wives are viewed  as manly, the Bible states:  "The one slow to anger is better than a mighty man, and the one controlling his temper than one conquering a city." (Proverbs 16:32)  It takes great moral strength to imitate the greatest man who ever live, Jesus Christ, and to control one's spirit.  A man who verbally or physically  abuses his wife is anything but  manly, and he will lose his relationship with Jehovah.  The psalmist David, who himself was a strong and courageous man, said:  "Be agitated, but do not sin. Have your say in your heart, upon your bed, and keep silent." -Psalm 4:4. 

Next time: Build a Strong and Happy Marriage - 'CLOTHE YOURSELF WITH LOVE"

From the Watchtower magazine, 2015