Giving Truth a Welcome

Good news about a spouse should be easy to receive. Sometimes old resentment makes it difficult. We hear that they handled something well, and immediately remember a time when they did not.

Paul says love rejoices in the truth. It does not enjoy discovering another fault, and it does not treat suspicion as proof. A marriage needs room for truthful correction and truthful encouragement. Both matter.

Ask before assuming the worst about an unfinished task or a changed plan. Listen to the actual explanation. If there is evidence of wrongdoing, address it plainly and seek help where necessary. Love never requires blindness to harm. But where change is real, acknowledge it. Where effort is sincere, encourage it. We can become so practiced at noticing a spouse's failures that improvement passes us unnoticed. Let truth be welcome even when it gives the other person credit and asks us to lay down an old complaint.