Whether you are in a blissful period in your marriage where things are going smoothly and your love for each other is easily expressed, or you are in a more difficult period where the challenges are never-ending, do something special for your spouse today. Doing something considerate for your spouse doesn’t have to be extravagant. We all love the idea of a weekend getaway or an indulgent gift. These gestures are often difficult (or impossible) to make happen and certainly can’t happen frequently. There are so many simple ways we can express love to our spouses that can be achieved without much planning and money.
8 Things You Can Do For Your Spouse Today (and every day):
- Say Something Nice – We all have moments of appreciation for our spouses throughout the day. It might be meaningful to them if we expressed our appreciation verbally. Sometimes, these genuine thoughts of admiration cross our minds, but we don’t speak them aloud. Today, when you think about how much you appreciate how hard your spouse works for the family or you notice how nice they look, don’t keep those thoughts to yourself. Those little heartfelt compliments and expressions of love can enormously boost your spouse’s day.
- Do Something Nice – Sometimes doing something as simple as taking a cup of coffee to your spouse first thing in the morning, letting them sleep in on the weekend, making them their favorite meal, or sending them an unexpected sweet text during the day can make them feel loved and appreciated. Take a moment today to consider what is meaningful to your spouse, and then try to think of something simple and small you can do for them as a gesture of your love.
- Make Their Life Easier – Life is hard and the list of things we all have to accomplish daily can be overwhelming. Knowing this, try to take something off your spouse’s shoulders today. If the dishes are piling up, the lawn needs mowing, the baby needs a bath, the trash needs to be taken out, or errands need to run, offer to take something from your spouse’s to-do list today…or better yet, don’t even offer, just get it done. Let them be pleasantly surprised by the unexpected expression of love.
- Give Intentional Time – The day is over, the kids are finally in bed and the house is blissfully quiet…but perhaps it is too quiet. It is easy to fall into the trap of turning to our phones the moment we finish with the busyness of the day. Our escape into technology can be enjoyable, but it is difficult, if not impossible, to do so without neglecting our spouses. Make intentional time for your spouse today when you put your phone away and give them your full attention. Take a genuine interest in them and allow them to feel loved by you in an extremely vital way.
- Be Vulnerable – Without vulnerability, there can be little intimacy between you and your spouse. Intimacy is incredibly important to the health of a marriage. However, being vulnerable is extremely uncomfortable and something that we often have to be intentional in choosing to do. Allowing ourselves to be vulnerable with our spouses is a true gift and shows them how deeply we love and trust them. Give your spouse this meaningful gift today because we all need to feel that kind of intimacy in our marriages.
- Pray for Your Spouse – Praying for your spouse is vital to a healthy marriage and needs to be done often. Being intentional in praying for them is a special way to express your love for them. Knowing that your spouse is praying for you is one of the most comforting feelings because you know they are entrusting you and your marriage to the Lord. Today, consider asking your spouse how you can pray for them and then entrust them and their needs to God.
- Fast for Your Spouse – Praying is so beneficial in marriage, but fasting for your spouse elevates your prayer. Marriage requires sacrifice from both spouses by its very nature. The willful fasting from something good in your life and the subsequent suffering is a beautiful example of that sacrificial, efficacious love. Fast from something good in your life today and offer the suffering to God for the benefit of your spouse and they will certainly feel your love, even if they don’t know you are fasting for them.
- Pray and Fast with Your Spouse – The only thing you can do for your spouse today that is better than praying and fasting for them is praying and fasting with them. Jesus should be at the center of every marriage and the journey a couple is on should always have at its core the goal of growing closer to Christ. Leading our spouses to Christ should be our top priority as husbands and wives. We should share our faith lives with our spouses and grow closer to each other with the unified journey of growing closer to Him. We want to grow closer to God as individuals and as a couple. Praying and fasting together today is a wonderful way of doing that. So invite your spouse to pray with you today, and choose an intention to fast for together. Your spouse will certainly feel your love; as an added bonus, you will also feel their love more deeply.
Image: Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash