Successful Relationships

Written by guest writer, Dr Taffy (moneyinmarriage on twitter)

The economy has had an effect on marriages and relationships that many probably did not expect. For example, couples that were headed to divorce court ended up staying together because they could not afford the cost of a divorce.

One thing is for sure, if they were not discussing money before they are now. Couples that had not talked about finances are now in the position of having to talk about money because of the effect the economy on their personal finances.

If you are in one of these positions, it is a good thing that you are now talking about money. Whether you really thought about it or not, money has many roles in our lives.

How many times I have heard this across the years as I talked with friends, families and folk seeking counsel and prayer.

Most of them were unaware that they were holding grudges and here’s why. This is a true story:

There are several young folk (well they have grown a bit over the past years who look to me as a spiritual mother. I met them all when they were in their teens, and most come from a very broken or difficult home background.

We need to come to grips with the reality that no one is perfect. Sooner or later, everyone around us will fail us in some way.

At least they will not always live up to our expectations of them, because our expectations will probably be above what they are really capable of doing at times.

The question is, how are you going to react when they fail? You need to ask yourself honestly …

Have you meet people who will tell you this? “We have a perfect relationship, we never have any reason to have to forgive”, or something similiar. I know I have.

Do you believe them? That’s a good question! I am not sure I do. No human being is perfect. We all make mistakes at some time or another. In a tense moment we are all capable of doing and saying things we may regret later.

So my conclusion is, we ALL need to learn to forgive because there WILL be a time (or times) in our lives when we need to exercise this grace no matter how perfect the relationship.

No matter how good a relationship may be, there will always be times when it will be neccesary to forgive. No human being is perfect, and one of the major things that destroys relationships is unforgiveness.

We need to understand that the real issue is not what happened to us, or what the person or group of people did to us, but rather what we did with the situation. Did the situation make us bitter or better?