What Does the "Balance Sheet" of Your Marriage Look Like?

In business, a balance sheet gives you a snapshot of your company’s financial position at a given point in time. A balance sheet tells shareholders what a company’s assets are, and what liabilities it has. If there are more liabilities than assets, the company is in trouble!

In marriage, it’s a good idea to take a step back and assess your “balance sheet” every so often too. So I want to challenge you to stop reading for a minute and think: what is the ratio of assets to liabilities in your day-to-day interactions with your spouse?

Our relationship with our spouse is like a bank account. If all we ever do is make withdrawals, your funds will eventually run dry - you’ll have no more assets! You must put money into your account more often than you take it out to maintain a positive balance, and the same thing is true in marriage.

To keep a strong, connected, healthy marriage, we have to know what our balance sheet looks like, and be intentional about making deposits! Like any financial advisor will tell you, consistency is the key. Every deposit doesn’t have to be huge, but make sure you are depositing something into your spouse.

Whether it is learning to speak his love language, showing acts of kindness, serving him, having sex with him, whatever it is -each loving interaction adds up over time. Slow and steady wins the race!

When kids enter our families, the dynamic shifts and it may not be as simple to make deposits as it was “before.” You are probably more physically tired, and the kids seem to need you more than your spouse does. Moms, do not fall into the trap of thinking your husband doesn’t need you!

When my kids were at home, I knew that eventually they would leave me - and when they did, I knew I wanted Greg to still be there! I had to work hard to keep Greg’s needs on my radar and to honor him by making an effort to love him in ways that were meaningful to him.

What is one way you can show your spouse he is #1 this week, and make a deposit into the bank account of your marriage?