I Won the Game and Lost the Night

“Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.” — 1 Peter 3:7
 
Have you ever won an argument and lost the person?
 
I really wish that before I got married, somebody would have handed me a manual I could actually understand. I got married when I was 23, and Ginger was younger than I was. I figured that since we loved each other, everything would just kind of work.
 
Then one night we were playing Monopoly with some friends. I was the banker. And the way I played that game, the way I talked and pushed and went for the win, made her cry. I remember thinking, “It’s only a game.” But it wasn’t only a game to her. The way I did what I did hurt her deeply. I may have won the game, but I lost that night. You know what I’m saying?
 
Some of us are wired to win. We win at work, we win on the ball field, and we win at the kitchen table. But when you bring that competitive spirit home, the people you love end up on the other side of the board.
 
Peter tells husbands to live with their wives in an understanding way. That means you study her. You learn what wounds her and what blesses her. And look at what’s at stake. Peter says if you don’t, your prayers will be hindered. How you treat your wife affects how heaven hears you.
 
That’s true for wives too, and for anybody in a close relationship. Being right is overrated if you leave the person you love in tears.
 
Is there a game you’ve been trying to win at home? Maybe it’s an argument you keep replaying or a point you keep pressing. Lay it down today. Then go to your spouse and ask, “Is there anything I do that hurts you that I may not even realize?” Listen to the answer without defending yourself.