The number of "Marriage How-To" books grows each year. Visit your local bookstore and you'll find racks full of marriage books and manuals devoted to everything from how to make your marriage work; to daring one another, to giving more, to listening more, to communicating more, to loving more (not sure how that one works), and talking more. Whew!
Once in a while a book is published that gives strait-up, bottom-line, facts about marriage; success factors that can be incorporated into any marriage.
"The Necessary Nine" by Dan Seaborn et al, offers nine critical indicators of successful marriages. They are real, understandable and doable:
1. Establishing Cherishing Attitudes (Cherishing isn't something my spouse has to earn, it is something my spouse has to learn.)
2. Pursuing Financial Security (The # 1 reason couples argue)
3. Discovering Sexual Satisfaction (For men sex means sex; for women sex means moods, emotions and everything else.)
4. Spending Time Together (Marriage is a bicycle built for two...what replaced you on the seat?)
5. Developing Genuine Friendship (being chums, companions, comrades and confidants)
6.Valuing Physical Attraction ("I'm going to take care of myself for my spouse.")
7. Chasing Emotional Connectedness (In marriage you are a blend of 2 different things.)
8. Guarding a Peaceful Home (Be the ringleader of bringing peace to your home.)
9. Creating Spiritual Fusion (Bottom-line: All marriages need Jesus as the Head of the home.)
Incidentally, that #9 is most important: Recent research done at Fuller Seminary reveals that the probability of divorce for couples who pray together is 1 in 1052!
That's the Heart of the Matter.
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Excellent post. Our HomeBuilder groups should consider this book in the Spring to go through. It has very relevant topics that all couples should be aware of and discuss in depth. We should pray for our own marriages and for other marriages as well every single day.
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