Distractions in Your Marriage - Part 1Sample

Distractions

Devotional Content:

In marriage it is the husband’s responsibility to make his wife feel that she is his. And the same applies to his wife. Distractions in a marriage can be anything that takes time and energy away from the marriage relationship: work, volunteering, church, sports, friends, kids, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, pornography, money, shopping, working out ... the list could go on and on. Some of these are obviously bad for us. They are dangerous and can destroy marriages. But sometimes the most dangerous ones are the ones we would consider as “good” things in our lives. We may even be “helping” others by doing some of them.

They become dangerous when they take the focus off of our marriages and onto them at the expense of our marriages. They can deceive us because they are good. For example, church is great, but if I spend all my time there and it keeps me from spending time with Nancy, my marriage will suffer. The same is true with any of the other things on our lists.

In counseling, I often hear this from couples: “Our first years were really good, and then we just began to drift apart.” Drifting apart can happen in any marriage, and it usually begins with distractions. Building an awesome marriage is often about balancing the distractions of your life. If you do this well, you move your marriage forward. If you do not do it well, your marriage can crash and burn. Be aware of the distractions in your marriage and learn together to balance them well. As you look at the distractions in your lives and think about how they are affecting your marriage, let me give you one more thought: Anytime you are saying yes to something, you are saying no to something else. Sadly, it is far too easy to say no to your marriage.

Today’s Challenge: Commit to look together at the distractions in your life that take away from your marriage. What will you do today to fight those distractions?

Going Deeper:

1. Spend time thinking about the distractions in your life. List out your top 3 biggest distractions.

2. Dr. Kim shared that drifting apart can happen in every marriage and that drifting apart begins with distractions. How are the distractions in your life affecting your marriage?

3. Dr. Kim shared that there are “good” distractions and “bad” distractions and that we need to keep even the good distractions in check. Are there any bad distractions in your life? What do you need to do to get rid of them?

4. Dr. Kim shared that building an awesome marriage is often about balancing the distractions of our life. Think of 2 ways you can better balance the distractions in your life.

5. How are the distractions in your life affecting your marriage?

6. Dr. Kim said that saying “yes” to something means you are saying “no” to something else. What can you do this week to say “yes” to your marriage?