Almost every couple approaches marriage with idealism. With our hearts all a flutter and the excitement of the approaching wedding day, it is hard to imagine anything going wrong. The world is full of roses so it is easy to overlook the thorns.<\/p>\n
No marriage is without problems. There are problems that come from without as well as problems that come from within. Sin remains in the world, even if you are in love. Bad things are going to happen to you and your spouse simply because you live in a world full of evil. However, problems also arise from within a marriage. You are two independent people who have lived the majority of your lives doing things your way. With the statement of \u201cI do\u201d you are going to begin the process of blending those two independent lives into one life where both of you are dependent on the other. Do you think that it will occur instantaneously? Do you think it will happen without a hitch?\u00a0Not a chance!<\/i><\/p>\n
In the book\u00a0David Copperfield,<\/i>\u00a0by Charles Dickens, the lead character, David, enters into a marriage of youth. His wife is lovely, but obviously is not a serious thinker or a capable housewife. It takes a while, but David begins to realize that everything in his marriage is not as he dreamed it would be. He asks his aunt for help, but she refuses to come between him and his bride. However, she offers the following advice to her nephew she had nicknamed Trot:<\/p>\n \u201cThese are early days, Trot, and Rome was not built in a day, nor in a year. You have chosen freely for yourself and you have chosen a very pretty and very affectionate creature. It will be your duty, and it will be your pleasure too \u2013 of course I know that; I am not delivering a lecture \u2013 to estimate her (as you chose her) by the qualities she has, and not by the qualities she may not have. The latter you must develop in her, if you can. And if you cannot, child, you must just accustom yourself to do without \u2018em. But remember, my dear, your future is between you two. No one can assist you; you are to work it out for yourselves. This is marriage, Trot; and Heaven bless you both in it, for a pair of babes in the wood as you are!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Marriage is not about avoiding problems. It is about solving problems. And the key to a successful marriage is where both of you want to improve your relationship and are willing to work on that relationship. At times the desire to improve a marriage will require you or your spouse to give up something you prefer to have. However, unless both of you are willing to make sacrifices for the sake of your marriage, the relationship will not improve.<\/p>\n Consider our Savior, Jesus, as an example. He came to this world to pull mankind out of sin. For him to come, he gave up the honor of his position as God to take on the form of man (Philippians 2:5-8). He was willing to even give up that life so that we might have a chance at salvation. Without sacrifice, there can be no improvement.<\/p>\n I will not be able to cover every possible problem a couple will encounter in their marriage \u2013 as if such a list of problems could be written. Instead, I will discuss several common problems that almost every married couple faces at some point in their marriage. Hopefully, the methods used to solve these particular problems can be used to solve other problems as well.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPrior Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPreparation for a Lifetime\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNext Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Solving Common Problems Almost every couple approaches marriage with idealism. With our hearts all a flutter and the excitement of the approaching wedding day, it is hard to imagine anything going wrong. The world is full of roses so it is easy to overlook the thorns. No marriage is without problems. There are problems that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":8138,"menu_order":16,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-8223","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":65870,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/searching-for-my-friend\/a-common-problem\/","url_meta":{"origin":8223,"position":0},"title":"A Common Problem (Searching)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 13, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A Common Problem by Steve Klein Do you tend to have problems that no one else has? If so, this article is for you. And it might surprise you to learn that I know what your problem is. Your problem is that you think your problems are unique, and your\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8146,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/preparation-for-a-lifetime\/an-overview-of-marriage\/","url_meta":{"origin":8223,"position":1},"title":"An Overview of Marriage","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 23, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"An Overview of Marriage The state of being married, while still a strongly desired goal, has been under siege for many years. Marriages that once lasted a lifetime are now fortunate to last several years. Approximately two-thirds of all marriages end in divorce in the late 1990s. Yet one hundred\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8464,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/preparation-for-a-lifetime\/temptations\/","url_meta":{"origin":8223,"position":2},"title":"Temptations","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 27, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Temptations Water runs the course of least resistance and many people navigate their lives in a similar manner. Problems appear so they do only as much as necessary for the problem to go away. They don\u2019t actually try to solve the problem. They just want the problem not to bother\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8138,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/preparation-for-a-lifetime\/","url_meta":{"origin":8223,"position":3},"title":"Preparation for a Lifetime","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 23, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Preparation for a Lifetime by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Preparation for a LifetimeTwo people raised by different families with different experiences blend their unique outlooks to form a new family. We aim to give you biblical advice on building a family and solving problems so the two can become one. Go\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/love.avif","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/love.avif 1x, https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/love.avif 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4552,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-greatest-love-song-written-a-study-of-the-song-of-solomon\/spring-has-arrived\/","url_meta":{"origin":8223,"position":4},"title":"Spring Has Arrived!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Chapter 6 Spring Has Arrived! 8 \u201cListen! My beloved! \u00a0 \u00a0Behold, he is coming, \u00a0 \u00a0Climbing on the mountains, \u00a0 \u00a0Leaping on the hills! 9 \u201cMy beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. \u00a0 \u00a0Behold, he is standing behind our wall, \u00a0 \u00a0He is looking through the windows,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/lattice.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8529,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/preparation-for-a-lifetime\/why-sex-outside-of-marriage-is-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":8223,"position":5},"title":"Why Sex Outside of Marriage is Wrong (Preparation for a Lifetime)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 28, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Why Sex Outside of Marriage is Wrong In the United States, marriage is becoming increasingly rare. 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