Welcome to episode 5 of 5 in our Summer Series called, Cultivating an Emotionally Healthy Marriage.

Would you describe your spouse as your greatest teammate? It probably depends on the day, right? We all have opponents that war against the connection in our marriage and cause conflict. But how do we fight? Do we see the opponent for what it is, or do we make our spouse out to be the opponent?  

In this episode, Josh and Christi talk about how to name the opponent, talk about your dance, and take responsibility for how to engage with your spouse.  

They talk about:  

• The importance of finding out what's going on in your spouse's heart rather than what's going on between the two of you
• Protective mechanisms and how they hold us back from communicating the truth of what we want from our spouse
• Why taking 100% responsibility for your role in the conflict disarms your spouse
• Practical ways to show up differently for your spouse 

We hope you download the pdf files that go along with these episodes (found in show notes below) and use them in your small groups, with your spouse, or as a companion guide to the content. 

Show Notes: 
How Marriage is Saving Me: Sign up for weekly devotional
https://shorturl.at/NtnCq 

Download the free discussion guide pdf for the Summer Series. https://www.famousathome.com/summerseriessignup 

Men, join the interest list for our exciting, upcoming men's discipleship journey! https://www.famousathome.com/mensinterestform 

Order a copy of Famous at Home:
https://amzn.to/3VYPKLP 

Watch this episode on Youtube by clicking here.
https://youtu.be/bi8pi4motfY

Time stamps:
(0:30) Introduction
(5:40) How to name your opponent
(8:55) How our opponents become elephants
(11:19) Feeling safety in the relationship
(13:45) The one phrase that matters more than any other to becoming teammates
(16:57) The role you play in conflict and how to identify your dance
(20:25) When one spouse isn’t willing to change
(22:25) Entering into and being repentant of your own actions
(23:55) Addressing the very thing holding you back from drawing closer to your spouse
(26:20) The most sanctifying verses for a healthy marriage
(27:00) Our single greatest reason for how we’ve grown in our marriage