Continuing in our forgiveness series, we’re going to look at the GIANT-sized task we have in replacing hurtful patterns and living out and staying committed to healthy ways of thinking and relating in the reconciliation process {particularly in the context of marriage}.

This means we’ll be looking at this from the perspective of the one who is changing negative behaviors/attitudes and not the one asking for the change. Though in a relationship, we each come at a reconciliation from both sides of this equation.

Truly living out lasting change or repentance is probably one of the hardest and most elusive things we will ever hope to do in this life!

And if someone is a “hard-core boundary-buster,” then it’s magnified to a monumental degree! But it can be done!

So what’s the secret to maintaining this honorable and sacred calling as we work toward reconciliation with our spouse?

In a word, … “accountability!” 

We hold ourselves accountable in several ways:

1. When we daily yield our sins and weaknesses to God in prayer and ask Him to reveal “any offensive way” in our lives {Ps. 139:23-24}

2. When we daily let God’s truth wash over us and convict us as we read, meditate and commit to memory the truths in the Bible.

3. When we invite and encourage our trusted friends to speak truth into our lives on a regular basis. {Small group Bible studies are great for this!}

4. When we weekly surround ourselves with solid Bible teaching that serves as another mode for God to challenge, correct and encourage through our church.

5. When we regularly {at least weekly} invite and encourage our spouse to hold us accountable and lovingly confront us when we get off track.

6. When we regularly {at least monthly} commit to being challenged and supported by a godly and objective third-party, like a counselor, pastor, life-coach, mentor, etc. in the areas where we are weak.

The more of these you do (especially the first four), the stronger your chance for change. And if you do them all, I can guarantee that God will change your relationship for the better! And you can hold ME accountable on that promise!

If you’d like to read the previous post in this series click on the link – How to Let Bitterness Go.

What do you feel is the reason you or someone you know has failed to maintain a change?

How has accountability helped you to change a resistant and long-standing behavior or attitude?

 I also want to highlight some of the great posts we had in our link up last week! Check out …

Tyson of Uplifting Love who wrote one of the top clicked posts last week – Divorce: Whose fault is it?

and

Andrew of Blessed are the Pure of Heart had an equally high number of clicks because of his hilarious and oh so true post – Does This Make Me Look Fat?

Oh, and don’t forget to check out Gaye’s new blog design over at Calm, Healthy, Sexy. And if your looking for a new design for your blog, check out who she used while you’re there!

Joining with  Works for Me Wednesday,  Motherhood Mondays, Whimsical Wednesday and Wholehearted Wednesday

Now it’s time for Wedded Wednesday!
Grab our WW Button Code here!

And don’t forget to include a link back here, because the easier people can find Wedded Wednesday, the more traffic I can send your way!

Check out our other WW rules here.

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