New Devotion Teaser! When Your Mind Jumps to the Negative about Your Spouse

 I hate the way he leaves _______ lying around the house!

Why can’t he do _______ like me?

I feel so _______ every time I am around him lately!

Do any of these thoughts sound familiar? It’s amazing how our mind can jump to the negative. If that weren’t the case, Pastor Charles Swindoll would not have said, “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” That 90% concerns our thought life.

Paul, aware of our negative thought life tendency, earnestly reminds us, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Our thoughts are powerful, and Paul wants to help us steer them in a positive—and holy—direction. To the extent that we can choose our thoughts, we need to choose wisely.

Never is this exercise more important than with our spouse. First of all, we likely spend more time with our spouse than anyone else. Statistics say that most married couples spend an average of 2–4 hours together each day. That means the choices we make around our spouse are pivotal; they can either bless us or, with a negative thought life, bring us down...

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Challenge:

What negative thoughts about your spouse tend to surface most often? Where do you think those thoughts originate—hurt, expectations, stress, habit?

Remember your “why.” Write down three reasons you married your spouse or qualities you admire about them—and revisit this list when frustration rises.

Are there unrealistic expectations you may be placing on your spouse? How might these expectations be fueling frustration or negativity?

Interested in reading more? This is a sample from my most recent PLUS marriage devotion for Crosswalk. It's part of a series of three that I've already written, with three more on the way! You can pay for a PLUS subscription and get curated devotions delivered to your inbox, along with access to other PLUS content without ads!