Don’ts

Don’t: stay in the same old pattern of interacting in your marriage
Don’t: Be right in all you do and do not be humble
Don’t: Let yourself go to the place of not caring about your spouse
Don’t think that you are entitled to all the responsibilities and loving actions of your spouse
Don’t: make your career, hobbies, interests more important than spending time with your spouse or family
Don’t: make your needs a priority
Don’t: Make things a priority in your life: house, car, boat, money money money
Don’t: insist on your opinion or way of looking at things as the only way
Don’t: imagine your going to change your spouse by complaining, hating, punishing, demeaning, threatening or manipulation
Don’t: think for a moment that you aren’t annoying too!!!
Don’t: discuss negative things about your spouse with others, especially not to entertain your friends
Don’t: Let your family or friends determine or influence what happens in your home and marital relationship
Don’t: speak out of anger
Don’t let your interactions and time together be all about children and when the children all leave the house you don’t know each other.

Do’s

Do make changes, not try, but actually make and stay with more positive behaviors
Do: Acknowledge your mistakes. There are difficulties, discomfort, and embarrassment involved in doing so but by developing new patterns of actions and reactions it becomes worth it.
Do: make your spouse feel cared about, special, important, valued, admired, loved, and appreciated.
Do behave as though every mundane gesture of your beloved is direct gift from Heaven
Do: make time to cultivate your relationship with your spouse.
Do: make there needs a priority and yours will start to be filled
Do: Stay out of debt: don’t let possessions possess you and bring turmoil and blame.
Do check with your spouse about what they think and how they feel about it. Use the combined wisdom of both of you
Do: Know that you can change your view of your spouse and your marriage by finding something each day about your spouse that brings you pleasure, pride and or gratitude.
Do: acknowledge to yourself and to them that you both brought a lot of baggage into the marriage to unpack and that you promise to be more aware and considerate of your impact on them.
Do: take every opportunity you can to build up your spouse in your mind by relating wonderful, and positive stories.
Do: have the courage to have your own opinions as a couple and be able to make your own joint decisions.
Do remind yourself that you love your spouse just before you express yourself
Do: get to know each other everyday

Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinkers in his heart, so is he.

Ephesians 5:25 “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it”

D&C 46: 26 “and all these gifts come from God, for the benefit of the children of God”

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““Until next week May the light of the savior shine in your relationships and bring you joy each and every day.””

— Dru Christiansen