
A nagging spouse is like the drip, drip, drip of a leaky faucet; You can’t turn it off, and you can’t get away from it. Proverbs 27:15-16 (MSG)
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Nagging wears each other down and can drive a wedge between us. Sure it can be frustrating when things we need doing don’t get done or our partner has an annoying habit but we need to communicate well with each other using feeling words rather than attacking words and sometimes it’s about finding middle ground. In his book The Five Love Languages, Gary Chapman talks about his frustration of his wife never closing drawers and how one day he decided that his role would be ‘drawer closer’.
Giving each other space during this season is also important. In our house, whilst we enjoy time together we also relish time on our own. We don’t eat every meal together. We will always have supper together but other meals are often grabbed on our own. This means the cook of the house isn’t always cooking. We also don’t always spend our evenings together – mostly we do but sometimes it’s nice to have space to watch a tv show one likes but the other doesn’t, or do something creative on our own.
Is there an area that you find yourself nagging your spouse about? What could you do to stop that?
How can you give each other space at the moment?
Prayer (as a couple)
Father, we’re sorry for the times we nag each other, please give us patience and help us to give each other the space that will help us flourish. Amen
Prayer (for others)
Father, we pray for _____ and _____. We pray that you will give them patience and understanding. Amen.
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Read this great blog on Looking after myself and my family during lockdown by our friends from FamilyLife.