“Wonderful Words”
Proverbs 18:20 says, “Words satisfy the mind as much as fruit does the stomach; good talk is as gratifying as a good harvest.“
When is the last time you really complimented your spouse publically or privately? All too often we compliment our friends, our co-workers and even a waiter or waitress at a restaurant more frequently than our husband or wife! As a young married man I made some major mistakes in regard to my public praise of Patti. I would privately praise her; but from time to time, publicly, I had a bad habit of making Patti the punch line of my jokes. I am shamed to admit, but that kind of behavior was not a great marriage builder! Psychologists tell us that it takes four positive statements to offset one negative statement and a healthy marriage will need to have seven positive comments to one negative comment. Often in marriage we do not have the proper ratio of positive to negative statements. Think about what your ratio is and keep track of the positive and negative statements that you make to and about your spouse. A one-to-four ratio is just simply maintaining your marriage and when you have less than four-to-one you are undermining your marriage. Husbands, our wives are a mirror of our treatment towards them. My wife is a reflection of how I’ve treated her physically, mentally, AND verbally. Speaking praise-filled to each other will keep our marriages and our families strong. Think about it! ~ Paul Endrei
