What are the mysterious ingredients that almost all good marriages have in common? What accounts for the marvelous blending of personalities when two separate and distinct individuals establish a young family and then live together in love and in harmony for the next fifty or sixty years?
Research now verifies that the healthiest marriages are those where a proper “bonding” has occurred between a husband and wife. Bonding refers to the emotional covenant that links a man and woman together for life and makes them intensely valuable to one another. It is the specialness that sets those two individuals apart from every other person on the face of the earth.
Bonding happens when there are three things present between two people. These three ingredients provide a special bond between a husband and wife. It is God’s gift of companionship to those who have experienced it.
#1: Emotional Openness
#2: Physical Closeness
#3: Safety
PUT INTO PRACTICE
- Intentionally bond a few times with the ones you love this week.
- Have a deeper-than-average conversation.
- Take a walk around the block while holding each other’s hands.
“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:2-3