Priorities and Better Love Now!
The destruction of a marriage doesn't happen quickly. If it did, more couples might see it coming and do something about it. Unfortunately, it decays over a long period of time, like the fence posts we are talking about. Month to month it doesn't seem like there is much difference, but over a period of years the heart rots out.

The truth is that a godly marriage is built on simple things, and it's destroyed by simple things. When a marriage goes south it's because one or both spouses misplaced their priorities. They began to think something else was more important than their spouse. Over time their friends, their children, their jobs, their hobbies - something - began to take the most special place in their hearts. And their spouse was pushed aside.

Fred and Brenda were living the American dream. They were involved in a campus ministry in college, got married shortly after graduation, then moved straight into a church when they graduated. They looked like the perfect couple. Fred started his career with a bang. It wasn't long until they were expecting their first child. Then their second. Fred got a couple of promotions and got busier and busier at work. Pretty soon he didn't have time to spend with God every day. Church became more of a superficial commitment that they did because they were supposed to. He began to value all the things his work was providing; she valued their home and their children. Their relationship became more and more shallow. Their physical intimacy dried up - he became angry, she became defensive. Alienation and loneliness began to creep in.

Then a third party came along and Fred had an affair. Their marriage lay in tattered ruins. It wasn't one big choice that led to this destruction. It was living over a period of years with misplaced priorities. They didn't know that their marriage was having its heart eaten out. From the outside looking in, you would think Fred and Brenda had it all. But beneath the surface, their wrong priorities led to the deterioration of their relationship. They didn't keep their fence post strong.

The way to avoid this in your marriage is to start having better love now. Marriages don't stand still, they either get better or they get worse. Think back over the last weeks and months. Which direction is your marriage heading? How do you make sure that your marriage is heading in the right direction on a consistent basis? The first step is to make sure that you keep your priorities straight. Your priorities will determine the choices and actions you take on an every day basis.