How to be Content in Your Marriage

Struggling with learning how to be content in your marriage? Typically, thankfulness is a key ingredient for husbands and wives in such a case.

Though this article is directed at women, I feel both men and women will be able to learn valuable lessons from its content.

Realistic Expectations

To be realistic, not a one of us married someone as perfect as Jesus Christ. In fact, if our spouses were as perfect as we would like them to be, they probably would not have picked you or me as a spouse in the first place. Humorous, yet true.

Nevertheless, it seems to me that some women, as well as men, are looking for something in life that, in my opinion, does not exist. That something is a storybook man and marriage.

At this juncture, let me be clear in that I believe in storybook men and marriages, however, I feel that I would add a few more chapters if I was an author of such a book. That is, after the page that says, “The End”, I would have to add that all relationships, no matter how wonderful they may be, involve pain, difficulties, drudgery, hard decisions, and emotional turmoil.

I have now been married for 20 years, and I have yet to have heard romantic music playing in the background when I see my wife in the morning. In reality, when I first see my wife, our hair is messy, our breath is skanky, and, unlike the movies, she is never wearing any makeup.

Problems in our marriage and home are rarely solved in 90 minutes or less, and, between our highs, we sometimes have to fudge our way through times when progress seems painful, difficult, and slow. In a nutshell, if you are going to enjoy a happily ever after, you will have to accept that a real happily ever after will involve some pain, emotional elbow grease, mistakes, hard work, and, of course, forgiveness.

A Good Husband is a Great Husband

Now, what is the point of all of this? The answer is simple. I believe that some women, in their pursuit of a great marriage, are turning up their nose at a good marriage. In other words, some women are so focused on what their marriage is not that they have failed to be thankful for what their marriage is. To be honest, if you are looking to learn how to be content in your marriage, this is always a crucial mistake. A woman in such a case will do well to receive the fact that as some have said, “A good husband is a great husband.”.

In our Audio Series on marriage, we discuss the need for ladies to learn the principle of thankfulness as it relates to marriage. In fact, if you think about it, thankfulness has been a problem for both men and women since creation. Adam and Eve had a perfect relationship with God and one another. In fact, they both had what no other human being has ever enjoyed since the beginning of time: a perfect spouse. Ironically, they both grew unthankful, and they wanted more than what God had given them in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:6).

Ladies, are you married to a good man? If so, then take a few moments to realize that you are married to a great man. Is he perfect? Of course, the answer is no. However, be sure not to spend your life looking for something that does not exist here on earth. You may be looking a long time.

If you are desiring to learn how to be content in your marriage, learning to be realistic in your thinking is a key step to take. Our 2-step process to solving marriage problems goes into more detail on how to utilize thankfulness to overcome feelings of anger and frustration in your marriage.