Do you know your responsibilities towards your spouse?  

You cannot achieve and maintain a healthy relationship without fulfilling your responsibilities towards your spouse. However, you cannot fulfill these responsibilities if you do not know what they are, so let’s start by outlining them.

• Fidelity – It is your responsibility to be faithful to your spouse. Being married means you are in an exclusive intimate relationship with your spouse. This exclusivity must never be violated whether through an emotional or physical affair.

• Trust – In marriage, you are required to trust your spouse completely.  Trust isn’t something that your spouse should have to earn, unless they have given you reason to believe they are not trustworthy.  You can’t have a healthy relationship if you are constantly expecting your spouse to hurt you.

• Affection – It is your responsibility to be affectionate towards your partner and to keep the fires of love burning. You can do this through gift giving, acts of kindness, spending quality time together, complementing your spouse and physical intimacy. Also, don’t take your partner for granted. It is your responsibility to ensure that they always feel appreciated.

• Another way of showing affection to your spouse is by actively avoiding hurting them. This means steering clear of hurtful jokes and comments, friendships that your spouse does not approve of and things like that.

• Friendship –Spouses should be each other’s best friends.  They should plan and take on new challenges together, support each other and celebrate and reminisce together, just like best friends do.

• Consultation – Being married means that you can’t just make major life decisions without consulting your spouse. Your spouse has chosen to share their life with your and they deserve a say in any decision that might affect them. For instance, you can’t just quit your job or take a job that requires you to move to another town without discussing it with your spouse.

These marriage tips are not rocket science but they are great advice for newlyweds.  If you don’t know your responsibilities towards your spouse, it can be very hard to have a healthy relationship.