10 Common Marriage Mistakes
As a marriage counselor, these are the ten common mistakes I see married couples making (in no particular order):
- They forget God
- God is the 3rd person in every relationship—don't ignore Him
- Spiritual bonds are as important as emotional bonds
- They forget each other
- They forget the basic needs of the other
- They forget each wants to be #1 in the eyes of the other
- They are unaware of or forget the basic need of the other
- He wants to be significant
- She wants to be secure
- They forget to have fun together
- Shared experiences create bonds
- Mindless fun is just fun! Having fun is creating memories.
- They forget to share the load
- They dump when they should divide
- The burden is halved when it is shared
- They look to others outside the marriage for emotional support
- No one outside your marriage should be in your marriage
- Constantly looking to others prevents us from looking to one another
- They are too casual or too conservative with money
- Money problems can cause a great deal of stress
- However, investing in your marriage and family is worth it
- They forget they are on the same team
- This leads to withdrawing and isolating—which can lead to being secretive
- They view themselves more as an individual than as a couple
- They try to have the perfect marriage
- They idealize marriage
- They compare their marriage
- They give up on intimacy
- Hugging, hand-holding, snuggling becomes less frequent
- Sex becomes routine and less romantic