It does not seek its own way, it is not provoked, It is not puffed up, it does not behave inappropriately, Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, to know how you ought to answer everyone. When it comes to marital strife or any other relationship for that matter, the Bible says regarding strife in marriage or any type of conflict: Not easy to do sometimes when someone is lashing out about something that has nothing to do with you, right? I mean, when someone gives attitude we sometimes go on autopilot and feel like “how dare they….” Marital Strife – What Does the Bible Say About Conflict? You can make the home their safe place to fall a place where all the worries and stresses of the day melt away. You can do this by not reacting (or reflecting back) to their mood (yes, not take it personally!!) and treat them with kindness, gentleness, love, and understanding. The other option is you can be a thermostat and change the whole temperature in your home and avoid that marital strife and discord. Strife in marriage can start as that little spark that leads to the fire! Click To Tweet The Thermostat We reflected the temperature back, likely causing even more strife in marriage! Or maybe it is more subtle than that! Maybe someone is just a little ‘”off” and next thing we know we have gone from being in a great mood to feeling down in the dumps! It was subtle but we allowed that negative or downcast mood to bring ours down. We do that often! We feel like we didn’t deserve to have someone come home and give us an attitude for no reason so we think “well, I’m just going to give them a taste of their own medicine!” We then feel as miserable as they do! Again, full-blown marital strife! Strife in marriage can start as that little spark that leads to the fire!

Next thing you know, you’re in a bad mood as well, when you were happy as a clam just a few minutes ago! You merely reflect back the climate in your home! In marriage, you are either a thermostat or thermometer! Click To Tweet You are either calming any strife in marriage or escalating it! How? The ThermometerĪs in our example earlier, if your spouse comes home from work after that stressful day and they are in a bad mood, or they got done paying bills and are stressed about finances, you have the option to be a thermometer and reflect that back at them by yelling or getting offended or just being in a huff. In marriage, you are either a thermometer or a thermostat. But each one has their distinct functions. You can then go to your thermostat and regulate it and set it to where you want. Now you can look at a thermometer and decide you are not happy at that temperature. It cannot change it, it merely reflects it. A thermometer’s only function is to tell you what it is right now. It doesn’t matter what comfort level you want it to be. What is its job?Ī thermometer reflects the temperature your home is currently at. Whenever it starts to get colder or warmer, the thermostat enables the heating or cooling system in your house to get that temperature back to where you chose. You choose what you want the comfort level to be and you set it to make sure your home stays at that level. It’s known for controlling the temperature of your home. We can go from being a thermometer to being a thermostat! We can easily fall into the trap of reflecting back someone’s mood like a thermometer reflects back the temperature and cause someone’s bad mood to turn into full-blown marital strife! We can easily fall into the trap of reflecting back someone's mood like a thermometer reflects back the temperature and cause someone's bad mood to turn into full-blown marital strife! Click To Tweetīut we all have a choice! We can resist reflecting back the temperature and start changing it. Next thing you know, you are giving him attitude right back without even thinking about it! After all, you had a tough day too, right? This, over time, just lends itself to creating mass amounts of strife in marriage! Have you ever had your husband come home after a bad day and he gives you just a little bit of attitude? Often, strife in marriage simply starts with someone’s mood. It could be minor disagreements or major marital discord. 7 Reducing Marital Strife by Responding in Love Strife in Marriage Often Begins With a “Mood”Īll marriages have conflict at one time or another.

Abedini marital strife