Start Talkin’

It is important to know how you feel about each other’s friends. Do you feel as though your husband’s friends from work have a bad influence on him? Do you feel as though your wife has very negative and cynical friends? No matter how old you are, friends still have a lot of influence in your life. “Bad company corrupts good character (1 Corn 15:33).”

Depending on how much time you spend with your friends, they may be having a very negative influence on you. This is something you should be talking with your spouse about. Does his friend Tom make you feel uncomfortable? Do you notice her friend Suzy is making her negative towards church? Your spouse is your accountability partner, and you should want your spouse to see you making good choices with friendship. Be careful when having this discussion though. You do not want to too deeply offend your spouse or try to rip them away from their lifelong friends. Allow your spouse to make decisions for himself or herself. Kindly give your helpful guidance, rather than trying to separate them from their friends.

Another very important topic of discussion when it comes to friends is the amount of time that you spend separate from your spouse and with your friends. Your spouse may feel hurt because they think you prefer to be with your friends. Going out golfing with the boys or shopping with the ladies is very fun and a blessing from God, but do not let it be at the detriment to your marriage. Maybe a good topic of discussion would be finding couple friends to double date with! Do you have any good couple friends who understand the importance of marriage and encourage you in your Christian walk? Those are great people to surround yourself with! Another good topic would be to evaluate the balance you have. Are you spending more time being out with others than alone with your spouse? Remember your spouse should always be number one priority. Start talking about friendship. You may be surprised about how much you have to talk about!