It is not possible to have a good marriage without friendship. This is why so many people marry their best friends.

However, friendship requires regular nurturing and nourishment. The pressures of everyday life can slowly erode the friendship that you had when you were dating and turn your marriage into a business-like kind of relationship.

A weakened friendship can invite lots of other marriage problems including lack of openness and honesty and intimacy issues. It also creates an opening for infidelity because when you don’t have a close friendship with your spouse, you are bound to go looking for that deep friendship elsewhere.

Deeper Friendship

The first step to nurturing a deeper friendship with your spouse is to treat them like a best friend. Too many people are much kinder and compassionate towards their friends than they are towards their spouses. They will nitpick, nag and make snide comments towards their spouses even though they would never do the same to their friends.

Treating your spouse like a best friend means being a lot more gentle and caring towards one another. When they share something with you, be enthusiastic and show support instead of jumping straight to giving them a “reality check.” Compliment them and bite your tongue more often. Don’t get too comfortable and forget the basics.

Spending time together seems like an obvious one but this is slightly different. Just because you and your spouse are together all the time doesn’t mean you’re “spending time together.” The latter must be intentional and planned.

People make plans to spend time with their friends all the time but forget to do the same with their spouses. They assume that quality time with their spouses will just happen.

When you do spend time with your spouse, make sure you’re doing fun activities for couples. Find common interests and try some new things together. Don’t spend all your quality time together sitting at home in your pajamas and then wonder why you have more fun with your other friends than with your spouse.

Talking to each other is another important part of friendship and marriage. Communication in marriage doesn’t always have to be serious and about things such as finances or marriage problems. It also has to include fun conversations like you would have with any other friend.

Tell your spouse a joke or a funny story. Listen to his or her stories about their day and just laugh together. Text them or call them often when you’re not together just like you would with your best friend.

Friendship is the best foundation for a good marriage. This is why the happiest couples are best friends. Nurture your friendship with these fun tips.