When You Feel Like Roommates: 4 Day Plan to Help You Love (And Like) Your Spouse for Lifeნიმუში

Do you eat together on most days?

The family dinner hour may seem like a relic of the past, something couples used to do in black-and-white television shows. Today’s dinner is often ordered out, eaten in haste, or munched on while you finish work or scroll through social media.

If you’re not in the habit of eating with your husband or wife, you are missing out on the bonding that occurs over food. Jesus ate with His disciples (Matthew 26:21) and Pharisees (Luke 14:1). The early church ate together, forming a community that could hold together through tremendous difficulties, including persecution, poverty, and famine.

Eating dinner together every day can become a place of connection that prevents you and your spouse from becoming simply roommates who share a house and bills. When you spend time talking and listening to each other, responding to bids for attention and affection, it keeps you close.

No doubt you shared many meals while you were falling in love. You didn’t rush through dinner; you used dinner as a chance to get to know each other better. Keep curiosity alive even after being married for decades with questions like “Did anything unusual happen today?” or “What was the best or worst part of your day?”

Maybe you and your spouse have different schedules. Instead of dinner, having morning coffee, or meeting for lunch might work better. To stay close to the disciples, Jesus spent time eating with them. When you don’t share meals regularly, it’s easy to lose touch with your spouse. You’re more in touch with your to-do list or social media feed. We can value efficiency (I can’t spare the time for dinner!) or entertainment (I’d rather watch my favorite show!), but is efficiency or entertainment more important to you than caring for your marriage?

Jesus spent time with people over food to build a relationship with them. Eating together with your spouse will satisfy both your nutritional and emotional needs, drawing you closer to each other one meal at a time.

Prayer:

Lord, we know You walked, talked, and ate with Your disciples. You ate with people and got to know them. Help us make time in our busy lives to eat together. Show me how to make healthy changes in our home around mealtime. Give us our daily bread–we ask for nourishment for our marriage today. Revive the love between us. I trust You are working in my home today. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.