Communication Differences in Marriage

By popular request,I am going to post more about marriages on this blog.  Over the next few weeks or months, as long as I can stretch what I have learned, I will share some insight into marriage through a Monday Marriage Moment.  Today’s focus is communication.

One of the greatest struggles in any marriage is learning to communicate.  Men and women communicate differently, but every person communicates uniquely as well.  Those differences can cause tremendous conflict that is often just miscommunication, more than anything else.  A major goal then in any marriage should be to understand the communication style of each spouse and then to learn and adapt communication in a way where each spouse clearly knows what the other spouse is saying. That understanding alone can eliminate many of the problems most marriages naturally face.

Here is an online resource I have used in business and ministry, but is equally useful in a marriage.  Click HERE to take this online assessment.  Spouses should consider some of the assessments businesses use, such as Myers Briggs and StrengthsFinders to learn each other’s differences.  There are also great books and resources at the 5 Love Languages site.  The key is to be doing something to learn your mate!

Experience can teach you how each other communicates, but if you want to avoid conflict that damages the relationship beyond repair, be proactive and study each other.

Could communication be a problem in your marriage?  What are you going to do about it?  What other resources have helped you discover you and your spouse’s communication styles and differences?