Mr Afeniforo Ayodele

Marriage Demands Toughness

"Marriage demands toughness, and toughness proceeds out of commitment. No marriage will ever be stronger than the commitment that serves as its infrastructure" (Neil Clark Warren).

Not too many of us, when we get married think that marriage will demand out of us what it does-a toughness to weather storms we never knew we'd have to battle. But that's a big part of what happens in marriage. We're often blind-sided by difficulties which require a real infrastructure of

commitment to get past the negativity that comes into our relationship.

This week we'd like to share with you on the subject of commitment in marriage which goes beyond the surface. Dr. Neil Clark Warren, in his

book, Learning to Live with the Love of Your Life (published by Tyndale House Publishers) has a chapter entitled, "Get Tough: A Triumphant

Marriage Requires Two Strong, Skillful, Thoroughly Committed Partners" from which we'd like to share a small portion.

We pray it will serve to strengthen us all in our determination to hold to our commitment to make our marriages healthy and strong. On this subject

Dr Warren writes:

For most people, the demands of marriage are mind-boggling. It requires all the energy you can give-and then it asks for more. It involves a

continual need for negotiation and compromise, for give and more give.

Mind you, I'm a big believer in marriage. I have never seen happier, more deeply satisfied people than men and women who have made their marriages work. But neither have I met many people in highly successful marriages who got there without an enormous expenditure of energy and courage and determination. There were times when they simply had to be "willful."

Virtually every successful marriage requires all kinds of willpower. Sometimes issues arise and the partners don't have the necessary skills to

manage them. They essentially have two choices: give up and run away, or get about the task of developing the required...