Love thinks. It is not a mindless emotion with lack of mental awareness because loving thoughts precede loving actions.

When you first fell in love, being thoughtful came naturally. It was difficult to stop thinking about your loved one. Sweet memories of wonderful time spent together and how to spend the next time together in a loving way filled your mind that you hardly had space for other thoughts.

However, for many couples, things begin to cool down after marriage. After a while, you unintentionally begin to ignore the needs of your partner. But the fact that your world includes your spouse does not change. Therefore, you must constantly include him or her in your thinking.

If you don’t learn to be thoughtful, you end up regretting missed opportunities to demonstrate love. Thoughtlessness is an enemy to a loving marriage.

Men and women are created with different strengths and weaknesses which is why they are made to complement one another in marriage. These differences can, however, create opportunities for misunderstanding. Therefore, love requires thoughtfulness on both sides, combining patience, kindness and selflessness. Love teaches you to respect and appreciate how your spouse uniquely thinks.

A husband should listen to his wife and learn to be considerate of her unspoken messages. A wife should learn to communicate truthfully and not say one thing while meaning another.

Be thoughtful. Don’t speak harshly to your spouse now and determine later if you should have said it. Love thinks before speaking.

Spend some moments to thing about thoughtful ways to love your spouse this week – and do it.

Culled from Love Dare by Stephen & Alex Kenrick