Marriage success comes from a variety of elements in proper balance. Trust in marriage is indispensable for a proper foundation to be built. Build trust now and maintain it forever. It is easier to build and maintain than it is to rebuild trust in a marriage.

Things come and go in life. No matter what it is cars, houses, toys, they are all intended to be temporary. Your relationship with your spouse is your single greatest asset and should be treated with that level of respect and dignity.

Relationships should begin with a certain amount of intrinsic trust in the beginning. If you begin a relationship questioning whether or not you can trust your partner chances are you can’t and you should follow your intuition. If nothing else move cautiously forward until you better understand if your concerns are legitimate or not.

Maintaining trust requires transparency and openness with your spouse. Your intentions and motivations should be clear. There may be times that a spouse would question your desires or motivations and you should have enough trust and respect to treat each other with kindness and reassurance if that is what they are asking for.

It takes both people to maintain trust. It only takes one partner to destroy it. People are human, if a mistake occurs it is far better to address it than to stuff it and hope that it never surfaces again. Covering mistakes with lies would only perpetuate the mistake and it can only get worse.

If your relationship has broken down don’t despair. One person taking the initiative to make positive changes can make the difference in a relationship but you may not be able to do it alone. With the proper assistance you will be on your way quickly to restoring trust in your relationship and experiencing marriage success.

It has taken both of your efforts to get here. One person taking the initiative to make positive changes can make the difference in a relationship. With the proper assistance you will be on your way quickly to restoring your relationship.

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Presuming your marriage is or was based initially on a mutual love attraction you have the perfect ingredients to guarantee a lifetime of married love. Remember your marriage vows. Marriage vows are legal declarations of love and the promise to love each other for a lifetime. They are truly significant and magical parts of a marriage ceremony and need to be honoured and treated with respect. You and your partner make a vow to love each other. A vow is the most solemn and earnest of promises. It is an unbreakable commitment. Treat it like that and it will become so for you. When you acknowledge your total commitment to that vow, you will move heaven and earth to make sure you keep your promise. You’re gonna love your partner whether he or she likes it or not!

Love and marriage go together

Love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage not only because they sound like a perfect match, but also because they forge a working alliance and they make a journey together. You and your marriage partner are going on a journey together. You have united as a team. Sometimes it will be you ‘pulling the cart’. Sometimes it will be your partner. The best love marriages occur when you pull the cart together and are heading in the same direction! Be prepared to take 100% responsibility for taking your marriage where you want it to go. Pour your love into your marriage. Sweat for your marriage — that’s real love!

You can’t disparage love and marriage

The love marriage is an ‘institute you can’t disparage’. That’s an elementary fact if you want a lifetime of wedded bliss. To disparage means to belittle or disrespect. Sometimes it seems like much of the media is hellbent on disparaging love and marriage. There really aren’t that many role models of long-term loving marriages being paraded in the media. Don’t buy into their paradigm of a world where love marriages are unlikely, funny or doomed to divorce. Respect your love marriage, give it attention and care. Work hard and creatively to keep the chemistry bubbling between you and your beloved.

Love is a verb enacted in marriage

Love and marriage, you can’t have one without the other. Marry these two together to forge an unshakeable alliance. Don’t be lazy and wait for love to keep happening to you. That’s a sure way for your marriage to slide off the rails. Emotions require you to get into motion. That mean’s get off your butt and do something. Love in marriage is a verb. It’s something that you choose to do. You consciously choose to love your partner and demonstrate that love through your actions, choices and words.

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There has been an 1150% increase in cohabitation in the last 40 years. At the same time the divorce rate in America continues to climb and is one of the highest per capita in the world. Since the advent of marriage laws in the early 1900’s, divorces have increased 500% on a per capita basis. All relationships have their challenges. Usually we view these challenges as personality and lifestyle differences. During marriage there is a continual need to work through personality and lifestyle differences while maintaining a healthy loving relationship. There is also a second challenge which most of us do not consider when entertaining the prospect of marriage. State and federal family law legislation has added another variable to the marriage dynamic — that of joint money, joint liability for debts and joint ownership of assets. Why did lawmakers include joint ownership of accumulated assets, liability, debt and judgments into the institution of marriage? Does this enhance the relationship or increase the potential longevity? Does this criterion change the motivations for marriage? What about the effect on the motivations for divorce? Is current family law what our faith-based forefathers intended?

More than 15 million people in America are cohabiting and this number is increasing exponentially. For the first time in history, there are more unmarried households than married households. America is in the midst of a major societal revolution as it pertains to traditional relationships and lifelong intimate commitments. The blame rests in part with State family laws (marriage/divorce laws), State/Federal marriage tax penalties and Social Security entitlement penalties for the married. Other reasons for the high divorce rates are directly attributed to a major social shift in the commitment of marriage coupled with societal acceptance of multiple intimate relationships in a person’s lifetime.

Psychologists have claimed money and finances are the number one reason for dysfunctional marriages. What if money issues were not part of your loving lifelong relationship? The Eternity Commitment or “EC” is an alternative to marriage where you have a committed lifelong relationship; however do not have the issues of joint money and possessions.

Thousands of years ago, marriage was created and defined by the different religions as the lifelong bonding of loving heterosexual couples, thus creating a family unit recognized by God. Marriage was blessed by the clergy and vows shared and expressed publicly under the eyes of God at the appropriate ceremony. Marriage was a spiritual commitment where the man and woman became one “spiritually”, not financially. There was no government intervention or marriage law mandating that marriage was a financial partnership. It would have been superfluous because religion strongly discouraged divorce.

The traditional structure of marriage created thousands of years ago is more functional and self-sustaining than marriage as it is structured today. Modern society has imposed a myriad of challenges to any formal relationship including marriage itself. The inclusion of the state-mandated financial partnership with the institution of marriage has resulted in dysfunctional motives for all aspects and phases of the marriage relationship.

Most couples believe marriage is a single lifelong commitment. However, there are actually three commitments within the realm of marriage. The first is the personal commitment of love and companionship for life. This is the most important commitment for without this commitment no other commitment will survive. The second commitment is the spiritual or faith-based commitment. This is optional based on a person’s faith. The third commitment is the marital law commitment. This is the commitment of a financial structure for your marital relationship. The structure of the marital law financial structure is synonymous with forming a 50/50 business partnership. Yes, you could just as easily duplicate the financial structure of marriage with the formation of a 50/50 business. With marriage, incomes are considered to be joint income, debt acquired by either person is joint or community debt, the couple forms one legal entity and the couple is one “taxed” entity according to the IRS. Just like a business partnership. I know of no couples who marry for the purpose of forming a business partnership. This is the basis of the dysfunctional relationship of present-day marriage.

Many 21st century couples do not want the state-mandated financial design of marriage nor do they want to ever experience the emotional trauma or financial repercussions of divorce. Therefore, they choose NOT to marry. Imagine having the freedom to design your own financial structure for your lifelong relationship rather than being forced into state-imposed rules. The Eternity Commitment gives you that option. You decide what is best for you during your relationship. AND… with an EC you never get divorced.

Most people don’t realize that when a marriage license is obtained you are opting for and agreeing to the state mandated financial structure of your lifelong relationship. A marriage license has nothing to do with your spiritual or personal commitment. In all 50 States, a marriage license is optional for your committed loving relationship. There are many benefits and reasons to opt for an Eternity commitment.

The Eternity Commitment is a relationship of love and companionship for life. It represents the traditional structure for the family which has endured for thousands of years. In the early 1900’s lawmakers enacted thousands of laws which re-characterized marriage to be a relationship of money, debt and possessions. When you analyze marriage laws, they are not about love, honor and cherish until death do you part. They are about joint ownership of property, debt, liabilities, businesses, retirement moneys, etc which in reality resembles a 50/50 business structure. People don’t marry to become business/financial partners; they do so to make a commitment to share love and companionship for life. So why complicate the intimate relationship with spending/saving habits of a partner when there is an alternative to keep the finances separate.

The Eternity Commitment is a lifelong commitment of an intimate relationship not involving marriage. The financial structure of the Eternity Commitment is self-defined between the consenting adults, thus bypassing and avoiding a state mandated financial structure for marriage. The financial structure of an Eternity Commitment is similar to that of a “joint venture” where individuals keep their financial and legal identities when sharing an intimate relationship of love and companionship. With an EC a checking account is established for the depository of funds to pay joint living expenses. In contrast, the financial structure of marriage is where the two parties become one financial, legal and taxed entity. Everything is joint ownership. The structure of marriage has within it inherent strife and conflict associated with spending and savings philosophies and ideologies. The meshing of money and possessions with the marriage is dysfunctional to the intimate relationship. In essence, the financial structure of marriage is contributory to the high divorce statistics.

In recent years, Common Law Marriage has been abolished in all 50 States (with a few caveats), so cohabiting with an intimate relationship will not automatically presume you are legally married. Today, you have a choice to marry or not to marry… or have an Eternity Commitment.

State marriage laws do not enforce the primary commitment of marriage, “until death do us part”. Therefore, the institution of marriage in no way protects a marriage from failure. If one person desires a divorce, the courts will grant it. The process of divorce is in reality, the process of splitting the co-mingled assets and debts. In many cases, the person breaking the commitment of marriage will profit financially because they will receive enrichment from their ex-spouse for the investment they made in the marriage. Thus, state lawmakers have created immoral incentives for divorce.

With an Eternity Commitment all property, money, retirement, investments, assets, debts, etc. remain sole and separate unless the two involved agree to include them in the “joint venture” portion of their relationship. Therefore, if there is a separation of people, there is no need to separate money and possessions because these are already separate. This is in contrast to marriage where all assets, debts and liabilities are co-mingled or made apart of the “community” as mandated by marriage law. Therefore, the requirement to split assets is the premise for the divorce.

Because of the high probability and risk of divorce, people are increasingly becoming disenchanted with marriage. Rightfully so — because if the love in a marriage ceases, all that remains is money and possessions. This is the origin of emotionally charged and expensive divorces. The person who has financially invested the most in the marriage has the most to lose in a divorce.

The pitfalls that lead people to forgo marriage are the beliefs that people:

1. Marry for money,

2. Stay married because of money issues,

3. Manipulate their spouses while married over money and possessions,

4. And last but not least, divorce for money (financial enrichment).

As mentioned earlier, there are numerous marriage tax penalties and Social Security Entitlement reductions for the married.

The Eternity Commitment returns the lifelong loving relationship to that of tradition — to the structure created for marriage by various religions thousands of years ago, and before the introduction of marriage laws of the early 1900s. With an Eternity Commitment the spiritual and ceremonial aspects of marriage are preserved where the celebration of your commitment may be blessed by a spiritual leader and vows expressed in a ceremony similar to a wedding. There is also an Eternity ring to visually and personally express your commitment.

Many people have questioned the institution of marriage, and rightly so. What you get today with marriage is not what religions historically created for lifelong relationships. However, today most people marry based on the traditional structure and beliefs about marriage. They soon learn tradition is not present-day reality. Marriage laws have superseded the faith-based structure and commitment of marriage.

Financial losses from divorce can be enormous and devastating, especially for the wealthy. Paul McCartney is facing the prospect of paying $400 million dollars to Heather Mills for a failed short term marriage. This is outrageous! Similar divorces occur in America. With most areas of asset protection there are loss insurance and corporate structures to protect individuals. No insurance companies protect individuals from divorce losses. The Eternity Commitment has a financial structure to provide this protection.

The alternative form of a lifelong commitment termed the “Eternity Commitment” defines the structure to eliminate the financial implications and dysfunctional behaviors of marriage/divorce. It focuses on the original premise of a lifetime relationship to be one of love and commitment.

The desire for people to marry will continue to decline and marriage will continue to be in crisis in America as long as state family laws have incentives for divorce and self-serving and immoral spousal behavior. Divorce must stop penalizing the spouse who has invested the most in the marriage. In addition, the marriage penalty tax still remains in many aspects of federal and state tax law and must be eliminated for people to desire marriage. Social Security entitlements should not be reduced for retirees who marry.

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He said, she said scenarios don’t work, and neither will finger pointing and blaming one another. We can brow beat our spouse until we are blue in the face, and we can continue to have affairs just because our marriage is on rocky times, and we can listen to strangers tell us how to save our marriage, but I’ll tell you what, it will not make us better people inside, so what good is all that for our marriage?

What we want and need for marriage is to be the person God intended for us to be so we can have a better marriage. A man and a woman marriage relationship is the four legs that support the marriage, and what you believe for your marriage is the root of how good or bad the marriage actually will be.

If you want to be a healthier person spiritually, and even mentally, you need to enhance the spiritual side of who you are so you can grow into the loving individual God wants you to become, which is the whole and complete person you truly can be! We all have certain issues in our lives that hold us back from attaining the spiritualism that I am talking about. What is holding you back? That is the question?

In my book, Journey on the Roads Less Traveled, I reveal what held me back. It is my personal testimony of dealing with alcohol addiction and how it stunted my mental and spiritual growth process, and kept me from loving others and myself properly. I was up there on cloud nine most of the early years of my marriage. I eventually came down off that cloud and grew up.

It is MY firm belief that to heal marriage according to how marriage is to be divinely inspired and healed, we need to fix ourselves FIRST! I don’t care what some of the self-help books say, I just know this to be true because I’ve been there! If our marriage isn’t good, we need to seek out the resources from the source that is going to actually do something constructive for the marriage, right?

Man himself can set forth a standard for you to follow based on beliefs of society and they may all seem so good and right but if they do not come from God what use are they, really? Most man-made principles come from God but have been twisted to fit into the standards of society, which can sound good and right. This takes great discernment on your part. What is right and wrong? How can you tell? Don’t let the world fool you; don’t let people fool you into believing what your ears want to hear. Look for the fruit. If there isn’t any, then what good is that?

“He who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit” Proverbs 27:18. And in the same concept, “He who tends “himself” will eat its fruits in marriage, and whatever else he embarks on in his life.

If you originate from God, why are you looking to a mere stranger to heal your marriage troubles? God has told us what he wants for us to do for our marriage, but no one is following these precepts, not even those who call themselves Christian’s. If you are sinning against the marriage in any way, how can you really expect the standards of society to save you from yourself? Society isn’t going to tell you that being unfaithful is wrong, just as it won’t tell you what is good and right for your marriage.

Society created the things that are tempting to us and wrong for our marriage. Immoral behavior and imagery is shoved into our face every single day and everywhere! God desperately wants us to put on His shield of armor and He will protect us from the evils of the outside world. This is precisely why we need to fix our self FIRST before we can fix anything with marriage! We do this by letting God lead us not into temptation of society, but instead deliver us from all the evils of society!

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full body armor (figuratively speaking) of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” [Ephesians 6:10-13]

We ought not to stand proud in our sin, but rather put our head down low, and stand humbly before God ready to give our sin(s) to Him. Now, I certainly don’t know everything there is to know about the mysteries of God, and, like many of you, I am learning something new about the world around me every single day. Not a day goes by that God doesn’t somehow and in some way reveal to me something new to share with others.

I have dealt with personally many of the issues most marriages go through in a lifetime, and sometimes my marriage was a living nightmare. But I grew out and away from what was holding me back, and I managed to heal my marriage with the help of biblical principles. I didn’t learn how to be happy and content with myself by going to a therapist or a marriage counselor. And I knew that I couldn’t fix my marriage until I fixed myself first. I had to stop drinking, and start to be aware of who I was as a person and where I was in relation to being that person.

What is my purpose? Who am I? Well, I am a child of God. Well then, if I am a child of God, then my source for comfort, happiness and marriage healing lies then in the seed God planted in my heart, which needs only to sprout and grow. Will the seed planted in my heart grow if I go outside of God’s boundaries for the answers to my failings, and marriage troubles? No! I need to water the seed by staying within the boundaries of who I am.

One day I decided I wanted to understand what having spirituality in my life was all about, and eventually, I accepted Jesus Christ into my life. His Spirit, the Holy Spirit is a part of my life now. This is not something anyone can just hand over to you. Spirituality is something that you go after and attain on your own and it takes time and spiritual effort. Your relationship with God (Jesus Christ) is unique and special and unlike anyone else’s relationship with Him.

True Marriage Healing is not made in a week, or months, but is a gradual growth process that husband and wife make within himself or herself. No marriage will ever be restored until “each” spouse looks at what he can do to change himself. Once this is attained, then and only then, can the marriage begin to be transformed? The big change comes through when we know who we are and what our purpose is in life. When we feel like our life has purpose and meaning, then we can start applying that purpose into our lives.

Many couples when they feel like there is no value or importance attached to their life, that is when they may go outside the boundaries of Gods precepts and search for substance through the establishments of society. The main objective here is for couples to change the way they value themselves and marriage and to help the marriage to grow in positive ways.

Who are you? What is your purpose in life? The answers are where you begin your search for the true source of marriage healing.

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Key Signs to Watch For

So before you decide to date this particular person, here are some signs that you may want to keep an eye out for. One simple sign to watch for is that they will ask you did buy them things or pay for their bills when you’re out together. In some cases, a gold digger will go out of their way find out what you’re ATM receipts are, perhaps even snoop into your bank statements just see how much money you have.

Some gold diggers are masters at pulling your emotional strings. If you do not buy them what they want, they’ll make you feel very guilty or treat you very bad. Some will withhold sex. Some will threaten to end this so-called “relationship”. This kind of behavior is not just a one time thing. This type of behavior will occur on the regular basis when a gold digger does not get what they want.

With online dating sites popping up like crazy all over the Internet, getting a date has become a lot more easier. Meeting people through social networking sites has become a commonplace now. The bad news is that when you meet a lot of people, chances are you will run into a bad apple. And because sometimes love can be blind, we can’t see the trees for the forest. If this gold digger has bad character, sometimes we tend to over looked that. Fortunately, that’s where our friends and family can come in. They can be our best protection. If they see something bad about this person that you’re currently dating and they have nothing but bad things is say about this person, perhaps you should take their advice.

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You know your woman is only after your money if she always expects you to pick up the tab; which ordinarily would not be too bad, but if she wants you to pay for everything she buys and every time you are out, she begs you to buy things for her. She is especially after your money, if she is asking you to buy things for her, even when she knows you are not rolling in the dough. If you are rolling in the dough and she’s after you that could be a dead give away right there that she’s after your money.

In a mature dating relationship, financial matters should not be an issue that causes tension or hardship to either of you. In a mature dating relationship, the man usually pays for the dates in the beginning of the relationship and when the relationship moves forward, the woman sometimes begins to pay for some of the dates. However, until you are in a long-term committed dating relationship or engagement or marriage, you are not expected to pay for each other’s every materialistic desire.

If you find that your dating partner or girlfriend seems to be only after your money and not interested in pursuing a true mature dating relationship with you, then you need to seriously consider ending the relationship. If she is materialistic and is just using you for your money, then you will never have a mature dating relationship; unless, of course, she decides to change her ways and wants to be with you for who you are.

If you really like your girlfriend and want to try to keep the relationship going, you need to seriously consider the consequences of such a choice. Are you ready for the hard work that will be involved? You may even be wasting your time and efforts in trying to make this relationship work because if she does not want to change, then you will never be in a mature dating relationship.

You both need to work together in order to have a mature dating relationship and if you are not on the same page, then it won’t work. Anything is possible and it could work out between you two, but you have to weigh the possibilities and seriously take a look to see if this is something that is worth pursuing.

If you decide to end the relationship and are seeking to find a mature dating relationship with a perfect match, then think about the possibilities of working with a professional matchmaker who can help you in your search to find a love. You will have a professional on your side and you can increase your chances at success.

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 Next, you should do the little things, this means offering to take her car in for an oil change or giving her a bag of jelly bellies {her favorite flavors} from time to time. Sometimes men think in terms of “grand gestures”, when it is the little things add up to long relationships.

This ties into the next piece of advice on relationships: Appreciate her. You shouldn’t take her for granted, let her know that you value her. Next up is not obviously looking at other woman when you are with her. W oman think that you are comparing her to the woman you’re looking at. They don’t understand the whole concept of “The day I stop looking is the day I die”. This comes from hb eitoolgical rdive for monoagmy in woman. Woman are looking for a lifetime partner for a man with whom they can raise children. They can’t help it. That’s how evolution designed them. So minimize the ogling, especially when she’s around. You should try to make her laugh, while men list good looks at the top of the things they need in a woman, a woman list a man’s sense of humor, so, if you want the relationship to last, keep her laughing.

The next bit of advice on relationships comes in seeking common interests. It’s great if you got together because of a hobby or an interest, but it still helps when you take an interest in a long standing passion of hers. If this means developing an appreciation for foreign films, so be it. This shows that you care about her and she’ll know you are one in a million.

 Once you get the girl, it may seem like you don’t have to try anymore, at least as far as grooming goes, and while woman are less sensitive to looks than men are, they still like a man who makes an attempt. So, shave on weekends, keep in touch with the latest fashion trend for men. In short, don’t get sloppy just because you’ve landed her. You can unland her just as easily. She’s going to need to know that she can integrate you into her circle of family and friends. A man must be part of her larger life, Expecially after the first few weeks of passion are over. So, make an effort to get alone with her girlfriends and impress her parents. A woman relies on her social network to validate her relationship choices. Make an effort. You should always be considerate of her feelings. Woman are less stable than guys, part of this is hormonal. When you are sensitive to her moods, you won’t get on her bad side.

The final piece of advice on relationships is to be open to trying new things. At the beginning of a relationship, everything is new from the types of dates you arrange to the way you kiss. But after a while, these things become routine. If you find that your relationship has fallen into a rut, shake things up. Try something new, it will go a long way to keeping your relationship healthy. So, there are ten bits of advice on relationships to keep your dating life strong.

Look you guys, these things are common sense and the fact is I almost drove my sweetheart out of my life because I didn’t pay attention to what I was doing. There is a book that woke me up, written by T “Dub” Jackson called “The Magic of Making Up”. After I read it and began applying his common sense suggestions, our Love life turned around. Not only that all of my personal relationships, with friends, co-workers and my family become much smother than they were before.

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