All of us feel overwhelmed or discouraged at times. When you see your spouse in that predicament instead of reminding him that he needs to work harder to climb the ladder of success or poking a finger at her struggle to juggle the demands of kids, the house and work, choose to comfort them with grace and love. God allows us to experience trials for many reasons, but one of them is because he wants us to reach out with compassion and understanding to others.

2 Corinthians 1:7: …knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort.

The context of this verse describes a ministry partnership relationship, but doesn’t it also well describe how our marriages work? We ought to experience each others sufferings, but also share our comforts. 

2 Corinthians 2:7: …forgive and comfort him, otherwise such a one might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.

This verse references the sin of one of the members of the church Paul is writing to. In our marriages we, will see each other fail.  If your spouse is repentant, God’s heart is for you to respond with comfort and forgiveness.  It is so easy to keep that long list of offenses and mistakes our spouse has made and use it as our trump card whenever we need a little leverage in a dispute.  But what an opportunity we miss when we keep score!

Isaiah 35:3: Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble.

This verse isn’t hard to understand how to apply -- is your honey worn out? Find a way to tangibly come along side him or her to give encouragement and strength to them.  Maybe it is some time away from the responsibilities of life, a shoulder rub, making and cleaning up dinner or just listening to them process life.

1 Thessalonians 5:11-12: Therefore, encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.

Use words that build your spouse up in love and truth!

Hebrews 3:13-14: But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Keep encouraging your spouse! Don’t get weary of it because they need it! I have watched marriages fall apart as one spouse picks the other apart and the other gets bitter. If nothing else, that spouse gets a heart hardened by bitterness. But a hard heart can also get tangled in affairs and other deceitful sin.