Model Marriage
- Recognize the reality that not all sets of parents have the same needs, so do not try to
make their needs identical. For example, one parent may need remittances but the
other may need to be remembered only on birthdays. - Do not complain about your spouse to your parents. They are likely to be biased
against him/her. Let love cover the multitude of your partner’s faults and seek pastoral
counsel when you need help.
Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covers all sins.Proverbs 10:12- Usually, the woman may prompt the husband on care for the home. He should provide
these needs with love. - Remember that your newly created family comes first: He who does not care for his
own household is worse than an infidel.^3
But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he
hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.1 Timothy 5:8- Know that your in-laws can do unacceptable things just like your parents. The
difference is that you may not be able to tell your in-law your real sentiments without
stirring up trouble; so learn to overlook certain things. - Be yourself with your in-laws so far as you are not offensive.
- Do not allow your parents to develop a habit of saying bad things about your spouse
to you directly or indirectly. You are one. - Your in-laws can pronounce a blessing on you depending on how you treat them.
Naomi blessed her daughters-in-law when she had to return to her own people.^4
And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother's
house: the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with
me.Ruth 1:8Notes- Margaret Hardisty, Forever My Love (Irvine, California: Harvest House Publishers,
1975), 114. - Gary Chapman, Towards a Growing Marriage(Chicago: Moody Press, 1996), 165 -171.
- See also Gloria Call Horsley, In-Laws: A Guide To Extended Family Therapy(New
York: John Wiley & Sons Inc., 1996), 59 - 60. Gloria says that the couple who wishes to build
a strong marriage, should, in their early married life, invest time and effort into cementing the
marriage bond, while redefining their connection to their original families. While old loyalties to