Love Is Patient

‘Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud. Love never gives up, never looses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance’ 1 Cor.13:4 &7

We go into marriage with a lot of expectations and when these expectations are dashed many lash out at their spouses. Again I would advise that the best way to manage your spouse’s expectations is to be transparent. For instance, your wife comes to you with genuine needs for the home and to her it appears that your first response to every need is that you do not have the money for it. The longer she feels this way, the more likely she is to lash out at you. Even when you eventually meet the necessary needs, you will find that she tends not to appreciate your efforts. Women, you also need to be patient with your husband, the last thing any responsible man would want to be faced with is not being able to provide for his family. Again it might just be that his timing is not in sync with your needs. Be patient with him, work with him and really find out where the money is going. You know we are built differently. Sometimes it is the husband that is the planner, the strategist, and the wife is not. Sometimes it is the wife that is good with money. This is precisely why God has brought you together, so you need to team up and manage your expectations. Draw up a budget based on what you have and what needs to be addressed financially. This way you are telling your money where to go and not wondering where it went. When both of you are aware, you are better able to manage situations you are confronted with. I will encourage you to sit down with your spouse and come up with a budget so you can plan for every need. Again it helps to be transparent with your spouse on what you earn so that both parties know what to expect. It is a lot easier when you carry your spouse along financially. It’s easy for them to bear with you in the seasons when you don’t have because they see you as a team mate. But when you ostracize them from the process and cut them off they really don’t know what to expect so they make demands for what they think they should get and they are less patient when you don’t carry them along.

Prayer: Father, bless my marriage with transparency and give us the grace not to abuse the gift of transparency, in Jesus Name.