Choose today to react to tough circumstances in your marriage in loving ways instead of with irritation. Begin by making a list of of areas where you need to add margin to your schedule. Then list any wrong motivations that you need to release from your life.
Love is hard to offend and quick to forgive. How easily do you get irritated and offended. People who are irritable are locked, loaded, and ready to overreact. When under pressure love does not turn sour. Minor problems do not yield major reactions. The truth is love does not get angry or hurt unless there is a legitimate and just reason in the sight of God. A loving wife is not overly sensitive or cranky but exercises emotional self-control. She chooses to be a flower among the thorns and respond pleasantly during prickly situations.
2 key reasons people become irritable are stress and selfishness. To overcome stress you must balance, prioritize, and pace yourself. Too often we throw caution to the wind and run full steam ahead, doing what feels right at the moment. Soon we are gasping for air, wound up in knots, ready to snap. The increasing pressure can wear away at our patience and our relationship.
When you are irritable the heart of the problem is primarily a problem of the heart. Some people are like lemons: when life squeezes them they pour out a sour response. Some are more like peaches, when the pressure is on the result is still sweet.
Selfishness also wears other masks. Lust is the result of being ungrateful for what you have and choosing to covet or burn with passion for something that is forgiven. When your heart is lustful it will become easily frustrated or irritable. Bitterness takes root when you respond in a judgmental way and refuse to work through your anger. Greed for more money and possessions will frustrate you with unfulfilled desires. Pride leads you to act harshly in order to protect your ego and reputation.
These motivations can not be satisfied. However when love enters your heart is calms you down, and inspires you to quit focusing on yourself. Love will lead you to forgive instead of hold a grudge, to be grateful instead of greedy. Love reminds you to prioritize your family rather than sacrifice them for a promotion at work. Ultimately love lowers your stress and helps you release the venom that can build inside. It then sets you up to respond to your spouse with patience and encouragment rather than anger and exasperation.
