Be Right Or Stay Married?

Would you rather be right or stay married? Silly question, you might say. But when you realize that due to our sinful nature most of the arguments that we have with our spouses are born out of selfishness and or the necessity of being heard, having the last word and or being right, it’s not that much of a stretch.

You may be one of those people who say, “We’ve been married for “x” amount of years and we’ve never had an argument!” Well, my first question to you is how many of those “x” years did you actually live under the same roof? Arguments, or if you like, “strong, marital differences of opinion” are normal and natural in any relationship where two humans live and grow together. The question is, how do you “argue” and how do you treat each other during those occasions, however, frequent or infrequent they are.

I love God’s Word, because it contains principles and guidelines for every situation we find ourselves in. Nowhere in God’s Word will you find, “Thou Shall Not Argue!” However, it does say, “Don’t let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful…” (Ephesians 4:29). It also says, referring to our speech, “Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?” (James 3:10-12). Reminding us of the duplicitous nature and power of our words Proverbs 11:19 says, “The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.” And a foundational verse for those times of difficulty is found in Ephesians 4:6, “"In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.”

May God remind each of us today and in the days to come of the grace and mercy that we have received from Him, so that when our holding on to be right or heard tempts us to give our spouse an “old fashioned” tongue whipping, we will remember how he responds to us and do like-wise.

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” Cute, but it’s a lie from the pit of hell!

MJ