The Fight Against Complacency

I don't know about you guys, but when I was younger, I always thought, "Valentine's Day will be so romantic when I have someone to share it with. I'll get flowers, and we'll have a fancy dinner, and everything will be perfect." And I was right. Valentine's Day has the potential to be a wonderfully romantic experience. But there's one thing about Valentine's Day that I don't like: it often makes people complacent about their relationships the rest of the year.

Why do we put so much effort into one day to show our spouses that we love them? Shouldn't we be doing that all year long? Complacency is sometimes a weakness of mine. I love routines, and when I get into a routine, it is easy to become complacent about whatever I am doing, whether it be my job, my church calling, or my marriage. But complacency breeds indifference, and indifference kills love.

So how do we fight against complacency in our marriages? I would love to get some comments from you readers about how you have been able to avoid becoming complacent in your marriages. This will look different for everyone, but personally, I think it is important to seek out opportunities to serve my husband every day. I am certainly not perfect at this, but when I am better at serving him, I feel more love for him, and in turn, he feels more love for me. Something else that has helped me recently is setting time aside every evening to play games together, rather than watching a television show. Sometimes it's hard to do that because by the end of the day, we're both exhausted and ready to turn our brains off. But doing these simple things has made an enormous difference in my relationship with my husband, especially since we had our baby a few months ago.

Now don't get me wrong. I still think Valentine's Day is wonderful, and it serves as a reminder that we should celebrate love. But I also think that Valentine's Day should not be the only day of the year that we set time aside for our spouses. It shouldn't be the only day for flowers, chocolates, and affection. I expect flowers from my husband on Valentine's Day, but I feel even more love from him and for him when he brings me flowers on a random day just because he wants me to know that he loves me. I love that because then I know that a holiday didn't pressure him into doing it. I know that he got me those flowers because he is fighting for our marriage and fighting against complacency.