Davidisms - In Marriage, Practice the Five-Years-From-Now Rule

All marriages - even the best ones - have their ups and downs. When two different and diverse people - a man and a woman - commit their lives to one another, challenges are bound to arise from time to time. As I’ve said before, the closer two people get, the more they will bump. But when the inevitable bumping occurs, practice the five-years-from-now rule. Instead of considering divorce as an option (don’t even mention the word!), lock the door of your marriage from the outside. And commit to stay in the marriage for five years. During these years, make a mutual covenant to love each other with unconditional love. With patience, kindness, generosity, humility, honor, forgiveness, truthfulness, trust, hopefulness and perseverance - the kind of love Jesus has for us (Cor. 13:4-7). I’ve had several couples on the edge of divorce who committed to do this. Five years later many came to me so thankful that they had locked the door from the outside. Started loving each other in newfound ways. And remained in the marriage. For the glory of God. And their kids. And themselves. They actually fell in love with one another. Based on mutual service and covenant - what God intended. If your marriage is struggling, practice the five-years-from-now rule. You’ll be glad you did.