Fresh Fire For Couplesনমুনা

## Break the Routine We are very routine couple. Richard wakes up every day at 5am to grab a coffee and to seek the Lord. I (Brittni) on the other hand am routine when it comes to health and fitness. I work out 5-6 days a week and eat the same types of foods meal after meal. The other day my husband came along to the grocery store with me, and I felt horrible when he asked, “Do we have to have salad for dinner AGAIN?” I thought, “Wow, I am boring my husband with the types of food that I love.” This conversation opened my eyes. I realized that to keep my husband satisfied in our marriage and keep him from growing bored (which in this case he already had), I must break the routine. Repetitive dinners are an easy fix, but the real caution lies when our love life becomes routine. What once may have won your partner’s attention doesn’t ensure that it will forever keep their attention. Therefore, we must learn to break the routine. When you break the routine, you break away from familiarity. If there’s one thing that will destroy a relationship-it’s familiarity. The Bible teaches us in Matthew 13:58 (NLT) “And so he did only a few miracles there because of their unbelief.” Jesus couldn’t do many miracles in his hometown because the people grew familiar with him. Their familiarity hindered Jesus from doing miracles because they grew comfortable with him. Could the reason why your love life might need a miracle is because things have become too familiar? Here’s what familiarity does: It causes you to value others more than you value your partner. Familiarity will cause you to find excitement in things over your relationship. Familiarity will also cause you to grow comfortable with each other. Comfort is the enemy of growth. If you aren’t growing, then your relationship is slowly dying and that’s why we need to break the routine. I bet you’re asking yourself, “What does that look like for me?” Switch things up. Instead of going out to eat you could cook your partner their favorite meal. Instead of watching an action movie you could switch it up and watch a romantic flick. Ladies, if you’re married, we would suggest you get dolled up for your husband and show him just how much you love him (wink wink). What man wouldn’t love that? Our point is, do something out of the ordinary. You can’t sow the same seed and expect a different harvest. If you want a fresh fire, stir up the fire and break the routine. Ponder Have you become routine in your relationship? If so, what could you do differently to stir up the fire? Prayer Heavenly Father, help me not to grow familiar with my partner. I acknowledge my partner is a gift from you and I don’t want to grow comfortable in my relationship / marriage. Give me wisdom to break the routine in my relationship / marriage. In Jesus name.