If you’re married, you’ve probably had at least one disagreement in your marriage -- per week that is. Conflict is such a part of married life, I think it should be part of our vows ("through sickness and health, arguments and disagreements, till death do us part"). For those of us that are married, we must learn how to compromise.

For some, the word compromise is a dirty word. When compromising relates to our values, it is a dirty word. When used in a marriage, it can be the difference between getting a divorce and making it. With divorce rates hovering above 50%, we're obviously not compromising enough.

I have a client named Maralyn who gave me a tremendous piece of advice a couple years ago. Before I tell you what she said, let me tell you about her. Maralyn is a widow who was married for 51 years (to the same guy). She is a woman whose only desire is to love God and to love others. Jesus said the two greatest commandments were to love God and love others. She lives this. So, when Maralyn speaks, I listen. I teach her a little about finances and she teaches me a ton about life. She gets the short end of the stick in this relationship, but because she loves God and loves others (including me), she deals with it very well.

One day I asked her how she and her husband stayed married for 51 years. They took the vow "till death due us part" literally. She told me that when she was married, she and her husband would never make a decision without consulting each other. They had a basic rule: Every decision required two "yeses" or one "no." This was especially important for financial decisions.

If one of them did not want to do something, they didn't do it, period. If they both agreed to do something (or not to do something), they took action accordingly. When I've share this with people, the question I get asked most frequently is, "How do you know if the person saying 'no' is right?" The answer to that question is simple. You don't know. But, if one spouse doesn't feel comfortable about doing something, the best thing to do is avoid it.

Avoidance, of course, isn't the only thing you should do -- finding a resolution is very important as well. The first step in resolving an issue -- financial or not -- is to pray and ask for God's help and wisdom. Then set aside a time when you can talk through the situation with your spouse. Paul’s words in Ephesians 5 give us a great example of how we ought to treat each other (verses 21 – 33):

And further, you will submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. You wives will submit to your husbands as you do to the Lord. For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of his body, the church; he gave his life to be her Savior. As the church submits to Christ, so you wives must submit to your husbands in everything.