How To Comfort Your Spouse During Hard Times

Show notes

About This Episode We all need to be comforted at times, and many of us have not been comforted when we needed it most. In this episode we get honest about how hard comforting others has been for Aaron, who tends to jump to solutions, fill the silence, or push people to move on. Then we walk through what Scripture says: we are told to comfort one another, we can comfort because the God of all comfort has comforted us, and we need to rise up and go to people instead of waiting to be asked. We also talk about boundaries that protect your marriage, discerning the right response, and simple ways to take the edge off someone's pain.

About Aaron & Jennifer Smith Aaron and Jennifer Smith are the founders of Marriage After God and authors of Husband After God, Wife After God, and Marriage After God. Married since 2007 and raising six children in Bend, Oregon, they started Husband Revolution and Unveiled Wife to share what God was teaching them, not from a place of having it figured out, but as fellow travelers pointing couples back to Jesus.

In This Episode Why comforting doesn't come naturally — Aaron's honest struggle with compassion and awkward silence The most comforting things we've done for each other — holding close and praying We are told to comfort — 2 Corinthians 13:11 as part of every believer's job description Boundaries that protect your marriage — comforting others as a team, not alone with the opposite sex We comfort because we've been comforted — the God of all comfort in 2 Corinthians 1 Rise up and go — why we shouldn't wait for hurting people to ask When comfort is refused — don't let rejection stop you from trying The appropriate response — weeping with those who weep and knowing when to be silent Practical ways to lift a burden — groceries, a text, flowers, childcare, a phone call, and always prayer

Scripture Referenced 2 Corinthians 13:11 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 Genesis 37:35 1 Chronicles 7:22 Job 2:11 Romans 12:15 Ecclesiastes 3:4, 7 Proverbs 25:20 Romans 15:1-7

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