Marriage
"So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate."
Getting married to the person you love is a huge step, one that often invokes plenty of soul-searching. You want to be a good partner for your spouse for what will hopefully be the rest of your lives, but it can be difficult to know how to begin down the road of self-improvement. Every soon-to-be married couple is going to face their own unique challenges, but just about all could benefit from dropping the five bad habits outlined below:
1) Financial irresponsibility
Not knowing how to handle your finances is bad enough when living as a single individual, but it can be disastrous once your tie your finances together with someone else. Do not let your bad spending habits make life harder for the both of you. Learn how to budget, curb your spending and save your money before tying the knot.
2) Laziness
Being in a marriage and running a household with your spouse means you are going to have responsibilities that cannot just be pushed off if you do not feel like handling them at the moment. It is best to get over your laziness before getting married so that your spouse knows they have someone they can rely on to get through the daily grind with them.
3) Keeping secrets
Your spouse doesn't need to know every minute detail of your day or exactly how you are feeling all of the time, but there also should not be any major secrets between you. Deep secrets can gnaw away at the foundation of a marriage, no matter how successfully you may think you are hiding them.
4) Irrational jealousy
If you get jealous at the very sight, or even the very thought, of your significant other talking to someone of the opposite sex, then you are definitely not ready to have a healthy, adult relationship. If your partner has given you no reason to be suspicious, then do not go out of your way to look for reasons to distrust them.
5) Seeing yourself only as an individual
In Matthew 19:6, Jesus provides a spiritually motivating quote for all Christians considering marriage:
"So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate."
When you decide to get married, you are committing to becoming "one" with your spouse. Yes, you both need to maintain a sense of individuality that allows you to be strong for each other when need be, but you also need to realize that your actions and decisions no longer only affect yourself, but another person as well.
Learning to see yourself as part of a newly formed partnership and really appreciating what that means for your life and the life of your partner can go a long way towards helping you drop your other bad habits. Truly realizing that your actions now have a strong impact on someone else will give you the motivation to shape up financially, drop your irrational jealousy, stop keeping secrets, and check your jealousy at the door.
Spiritual Prayer
And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”