“Yes, I love you … but could you please stop leaving your things around the house?” God made us male and female, complementary yet different. We can choose to see the differences in our spouse as bewildering frustrations…or we can see them as opportunities to encounter Jesus and love more.
Snippet from the Show
In marriage, God is inviting us to take our initial love for each other to the next level:
To deepen it, purify it, and make it ever more like his love.
Shownotes
3 Keys to Navigating Differences
Take A Breath
If you happen to notice yourself feeling a little frustrated with your spouse, or a little disappointed or let down, it’s good to get curious and ask yourself:
- Why am I feeling that way?
- What’s the underlying assumption that I have?
- Have I done a good job at communicating those thoughts and expectations?
Your spouse is bringing something else to the table that could be listened to!
Trust While Calling Attention to It
When expectations remain hidden, just assumed, they can lead to disappointment and frustration when the other person is not abiding by our unspoken hopes.
If we see something, if we hear something or we sense something, we can call this to attention with our spouse in a Christ-centered way through charity and compassion that wills the good of the other.
Humility & Forgiveness
It takes just as much humility and love to say, “I forgive you.” When we truly forgive, from the heart, it’s as if we’re saying to our spouse, “Yes, you did something wrong, and it hurt me. But I see your heart. I see a lot of good in your heart—that the deepest part of your heart does not resonate with what you did. It is sorry and wants to change. I don’t want to hold this over you. I want us to be reconciled. I forgive you.”
We hurt each other, but as Jesus said on Calvary, we know not what we do. Let us, therefore, take on the compassionate heart of Jesus in our marriages.
Learn more by visiting ascensionpress.com/realmarriage!
Resources
- Visit Dr. Sri’s website at www.edwardsri.com and to book online events with Dr. Sri email events.edwardsri@gmail.com
- Find more of Dr. Sri’s episodes at www.ascensionpress.com/allthingscatholic
- Ascension is pleased to offer our new and improved online bible study programs and sacramental preparation programs digitally to help you minister with flexibility. Go to www.ascensionpress.com to view all our offerings
Dr. Edward Sri is a theologian, well-known Catholic speaker, and author of several best-selling books. His work with Ascension includes study programs such as A Biblical Walk Through the Mass, No Greater Love: A Biblical Walk Through Christ’s Passion and Mary: A Biblical Walk with the Blessed Mother. Several of Dr. Sri’s programs were filmed on-site in the Holy Land, and feature immersive video explorations of the sacred sites where Jesus, Mary, and the Apostles lived and died.
Dr. Sri is the host of the acclaimed Ascension podcast All Things Catholic with Dr. Edward Sri. Together with Curtis Martin, Dr. Sri is a founding leader of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), of which he serves as senior vice president of Apostolic Outreach.
Dr. Sri lives with his wife Beth and their children in Colorado.
