Marital Conflict Comes From a Sinful Heart

We can make excuses and point the finger of blame at our spouse, but the truth is, marital conflict ultimately comes from our own sinful hearts.

James 4:1 What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you?

Conflicts arise from a selfish heart

We fight because we want it our way. We don’t want to sacrifice or be sensitive to the needs of our spouse. We have needs and desires and we want those to be met. We set the rules of the relationship and we want our spouse to be a rule follower.

Don’t make excuses for your anger

It’s human nature to find someone else to blame for our shortcoming. Whether it’s our cultural heritage or what our families modeled for us, we want to let ourselves off the hook for the sins in our hearts.

Don’t let conflict “kill” your marriage

Jesus talked a lot about anger and he didn’t hold back on identifying it as a serious problem. In fact, he equates anger with murder.

Matthew 5:21-22 “You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ But I say, if you are even angry with someone,you are subject to judgment

What Jesus was saying is just like murder ends a life, anger has the ability to “kill” a relationship. Don’t let your selfish, angry heart destroy your marriage.