Don’t drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular check ups.
– 2 Corinthians 13:5

Of course the Apostle Paul was talking about the wisdom of giving yourself a spiritual check up. There is also wisdom in giving your marriage a regular check up, too! We maintain so many things – our cars, lawn mowers, homes, and our own health, yet all too often the marriage and family get neglected. It’s not like we think they don’t matter, we are just so busy with other things. Do you know what happens when things don’t get maintained properly? They get messy.

Early in our marriage, I bought a used lawn mower that didn’t have an oil cap. Instead of investing in it and maintaining it properly, I just used a milk carton cap as the oil cap. It seemed my little band-aid worked until Renee was mowing the lawn one day. The milk cap came off and oil started shooting everywhere! It got real messy. If you don’t invest in and maintain your marriage, the same thing happens. Things will eventually explode.

What can you do to continue to invest in your marriage all year long?

1. Ask the Lord for help.
   1. I know this sounds so simple and like such a no-brainer, but not asking the Lord for help has been the downfall of great kings and leaders throughout history.
   2. The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is a wonderful teacher, and He gives the farmer great wisdom (Isaiah 28:29).
   3. Want to know how to communicate better? How to endure hardship, how to be at peace, how to love when you don’t feel loved back? Just ask Him today.
2. Be a Good-Finder. 
   1. Out of all we communicate in marriage, there is nothing more important than communicating all the good we see in each other. This one tip… this one nugget… has the power to transform any marriage.
   2. Make a list of all the good you see in your spouse and read it every day and night.
   3. When you find the treasure in your spouse, speak to it! That’s what Jesus did. People flocked to be around Jesus. Why? They felt celebrated, not tolerated.
3. Make a habit of having fun together. Yes, attend church together, worship together. Also find something practical and fun that you can do together.
   1. Scripture declares that a merry heart does you good like a medicine, so laugh together… it will be good for you!
   2. Dr. George Adams found encouragement so vital to a person’s existence that he called it the oxygen to the soul. I think a good belly laugh with your spouse is the same.