I will never forget when my children were younger and a neighbor child rang my doorbell to inform me that my son (who was about 7 years old at the time) had said a “bad” word. “Really?” I responded. “What did he say?”
You could tell this kid was proud of himself, sure that after he told me, my son would be getting into some really big trouble. Loudly he declared, “He said,” but then he barely whispered, “hell.” I had to bend over to hear the word.
Well as it turned out my son was apparently relaying a message he had learned in Sunday school about heaven and hell. I had to explain that the word is only bad, depending on the context in which it’s used.
Some words are like that. They can be good or bad. But there is one word—a truly bad word—that should never come up in an argument with your spouse.
Are you ready to hear it? It’s the word D-I-V-O-R-C-E. That’s right, I said it…divorce.
In no context is it a good word to use when having a disagreement in marriage. It’s a dirty word that is oftentimes meant to be like a dagger you put through the heart.
That’s not to say you might very well be headed down that path. I’m not talking about that situation. I am referring to the couple who pulls it out unnecessarily—too often and much too early in the marriage.
Just as my son was “guilty” of using the word hell, I have been guilty of using the word divorce. I used to toss that word around like it was a ping pong ball.
The difference is that my son used it in the right context. That wasn’t the case for me.
Through the years I learned that not only is it not a fair fight when used but it’s detrimental to a marriage that I truly do treasure. It has been many, many years since that dirty word came out of my mouth.
The next time you have a disagreement, fight fair. Don’t pull out that word. It’s a bad one.