Why Humility is Important in Marriage
Pride is a strong human tendency that has several detrimental effects on one’s life. Pride can lead to jealousy and other destructive emotions. It can also make us believe that we are better than others and lead us to disrespect our families. To illustrate this, it is helpful to consider the effects of pride in marriage. The following paragraphs highlight the importance of humility in marriage, how it affects a couple’s quality of life, and what a humble spouse does to build a united family.
Pride is crucial for a happy marriage as it makes us think our spouse isn’t good enough without our input. A virtuous spouse believes his/her spouse is good enough as he/she is and believes s/he can help improve their relationship. By accepting their spouse for who he/she is and believing s/he can help improve their relationship, virtuous spouses foster strong marriages by recognizing their needs and working together to meet them. A virtuous spouse will also recognize his/her spouse’s needs and work to meet them at home, at work or with friends. This unselfish approach creates a united family by enabling everyone to meet his/her needs while respecting the needs of family unity.
By disdaining others, we demean ourselves when we put ourselves above others or believe we are better than others. We can disrespect our families by disowning people we know are treating them poorly or disrespecting their loved ones further up the chain of command. We can disrespect our colleagues by ignoring someone who cuts us down or belittles us at work— something many coworkers do toward each other without consequence. Disrespecting our loved ones makes us feel better about ourselves as it makes us think we are better than those people— but it makes us less happy as it hurts our relationships instead of making them stronger.
A truly proud person thinks he/she deserves only what he/she merits, but a humble person knows he/she deserves what he/she takes from life— including from life with others whom he/she respects and loves. Humility enables us to recognize our needs so we can build strong personal relationships with others— something that paves the way for genuine love between individuals and within families.
