The Seven Deadly Sins and Your Marriage - Day 4

SLOTH

This is not a word that we hear very often.  Honestly, I had to look it up in the dictionary to make sure I knew what it meant.  Here is what I found.  Sloth is a reluctance to work or make an effort; it is laziness.  This is the one of the seven deadly sins that I was not sure about when I decided to do this series.  The others seemed to fit into a marriage picture pretty easily.  But sloth?  Then I read the defination and realized that sloth is the root cause of many of the issues couples face in marriage.

One of the most frustrating things that I face when I do marriage counseling is working with a couple and only one is working.  One wants the marriage to work.  One does everything I ask of them.  One is passionate to build a healthy marriage.  The other one? Sloth.  They want their spouse to do all the work and make all the changes.  They are along for the ride and it is all about them.  They say things like. “if she were a better housekeeper”; “if he made more money”; “if we had more sex.”  The list could go on but the bottom line is that they are not going to work on the marriage till their spouse straightens up and does what they want them to do.  Honestly, that just won’t work.

If you really want an Awesome Marriage, it will take work and it will take both of you working.  There is no room for laziness.  It is two people each giving 110%.  All too often I see couples that do no more than exist together.  They are living under the same roof but that is about it.  No effort to improve the marriage.  No desire to change.  Just passing time together while life passes them by.  That is an extremely sad picture.  It is a slothful marriage.

Has sloth crept into your marriage?  If if had, my counsel to you is attack it now.  Attack it with everything you have.  Fight for an Awesome Marriage and begin today.

Dr. Kim