Day 14: to a Great Marriage - Use Affirming Words

Congratulations! You've made it through two weeks - and only have two weeks to go on this journey toward a Great Marriage. So glad you have continued with me.

Hopefully you were able to do Day 13's suggestion -- Worship Together, and found the statistics interesting and helpful. If attending church is foreign to you and your family, at least I hope you will keep it in mind and consider the incredible benefits for your marriage, family and you personally. Church gets such a bad rap today in our post-modern culture, but there are a lot of good churches out there and I encourage you to at least give it a try.

Okay, today's suggestion for a Great Marriage is to...

DAY 14: TO A GREAT MARRIAGE - Use Affirming Words

We talked about the 5 Love Languages on Day 7 and that it was my privilege to interview Dr. Gary Chapman on my radio (see 2/14/11) about his book(s) on the 5 Love Languages.

And one of the 5 Love Languages is to use affirming words. We've already instituted using good words in several of the days leading up to today, and if you are employing the suggestions you are beginning to reap the benefits -- your husband is being blessed, and he is reciprocating!

Today, we want to become more conscience of our words. Basically, using affirming words is to FOCUS on the good. We all know this is a good thing to do, but the rigors of life's challenges can find us thinking, then dwelling, then developing a negative mindset. Easy to do. 

As a matter of fact, human beings have a built-in bent toward negative thinking - check this out by Norman Wright on How to Speak Your Spouse's Language.

But! we CAN CHOOSE what we will think...and speak.

So, beginning today make a conscience effort to consciously use affirming words with your husband, and stop yourself from using non-affirming words -- nagging words; critical words, negative words, etc. -- from now on.

It's not easy, and you'll not do it perfectly, but you can dramatically change the way you speak, by consciously choosing your words. And not just with your husband, but with your kids, too. Not only will this radically change the environment in your home, but with time it will help change the way everyone in the family talks. Really.

Plus, you'll find out quickly by the responses if your husband's love language is, indeed, Words of Affirmation.

The bible tells us that there is the power of life and death in the tongue...today we start fresh by choosing life-giving words.