Quotes about Relationships

Getting married won't make you happy or an adult; getting married simply makes you … married.

None of us can live up to the law; all of us will break it. Marriage teaches us — indeed, it practically forces us — to learn to live by extending grace and forgiveness to people who have sinned against us. If I can learn to forgive and accept my imperfect spouse, I'll be well equipped to offer forgiveness outside my marriage. Forgiveness, I'm convinced, is so unnatural an act that it takes practice to perfect it.

Individual acts don't make a person toxic; toxic describes someone who feels comfortable in those acts and energized by those acts and who makes those acts the common approach to their relationships.

the picture of marriage as God intended it to be — two equals, albeit different, completely and wholly serving the other person as though they are greater than themselves, thus creating not a male-female power struggle over who is more worthy, but a harmony that reflects the character of God in the Trinity and the ministry of reconciliation in the world.

As it pertains to you and me, let's admit we can't reach everyone, so let's invest our time in the reliable people we can reach. Find out who is toxic to you, consider walking away, and entrust them to God.

Marriage creates a situation in which our desire to be served and coddled can be replaced with a nobler desire to serve others — even to sacrifice for others.

Some use the label toxic much too broadly as an excuse to avoid difficult, different, or hurting people.

Occasional acts of dramatic service like this can go such a long way — not only in cementing intimacy as a couple, but in reminding the spouse who does the giving that to know Christ is to know service; to become like Christ is to become like a servant; to follow Christ is to follow the way of service.

Even so, whenever the biblical model is superseded and a woman or man becomes a mom or dad first instead of a wife or husband first, the marriage suffers—very often irretrievably.

But ask God to help you. Partner with him to build up and encourage the person with whom you've chosen to spend the rest of your life. Ask. "How can I love my spouse today like he [or she] has never been or ever will be loved?" When we focus on what we can do, it's amazing how little time we have left to become consumed by our disappointments.

I think we need the same attitude with our marriage. All of us experience certain things about our spouses that may be difficult for us to accept.

Would that it were the reverse, with girlfriends seriously discussing with their friends their boyfriends' weakness so that they could make a wise decision, and wives seriously defending their husbands' honor so that they could make a lasting marriage. Unfortunately, ignoring your boyfriends' weakness and gossiping about your husband's failures are two sure paths to divorce.