Have you ever wondered why marriages fail?
Usually, when we hear two couples fall out, we immediately think “Ah, they probably don’t love each other anymore.”
In my years as a marriage counsellor, I have realised that most marriages rarely break down because of a lack of love. Most couples start out loving each other. Marriages mostly break down because of a lack of connection that has lingered on for too long.
The little accumulation of micro-rejections, unhealthy communication, the repair that never happened, consistent withdrawals and low love deposits.
What if I told you we would have given up on our marriage in the first year. I think we mentioned divorce twice in the heat of arguments. We felt hopeless. This was despite the fact that we knew we were both good and godly people.
But things did not just change. We did the work to rebuild our connection and started to do the individual work of making more love deposits than withdrawals. We stopped blaming and started doing. We learnt how to communicate effectively and shifted the focus from blaming to doing
Imagine if we had given up, we would have missed God’s purpose for why he brought us together. We would have missed this beautiful intimate relationship we have now. I would not have had the opportunity to use my marriage as a gospel. We would not have done a lot of great things together that are impacting lives.
The feelings of love is never enough to sustain a marriage
We must love through our actions – actions are what you do consistently in the marriage. The moment couples stop investing the right actions – the connection starts to drop.
Lack of connection is a major reason why marriages fail. When a couple starts in love, they build a connection based on how they feel about each other . With time, because they have stayed together for a while, it is easy to become overfamiliar and stop doing the things they once did to “fall” in love. If this dynamic is left to linger for a long time, there will be a breakdown in the marriage
How then do you rebuild your connection?
In my counselling or therapy sessions with couples, one key solution is to ensure you are making more love deposits than withdrawals.
Building the perfect marriage does not come from wishing. Without putting in the work and taking actions to deliberately make your marriage work, the connection between you and your partner will eventually die down
My marriage is beautiful today because my husband and I deliberately invested in our marriage. It wasn’t like that in the beginning. We had our fights and I almost moved out. One thing I learned from our growth is that – It is not enough to marry right but doing it right.
In essence, your marriage has the potential to be an example of what a perfect marriage should be. We may never know if you give up on it.
However, if your marriage is an abusive or violent one, this doesn’t apply. Seek safety and professional help.
Marriage is a beautiful thing. When two people come together to make things work, they are building a future that has the potential to impact many lives.
Join my 30-Day Couples Reconnecting Challenge where I will be helping couples find that spark again to reconnect the bond they once shared and move their marriage to a place of deeper intimacy.
The challenge starts June 1st. Sign up Here.
Rooting for your marriage ❤️