7 Small Ways to Say Yes to Your Spouse This Week

On your wedding day, saying yes was easy. The music was playing, everyone was smiling, and forever felt close enough to touch. But the yes that keeps a marriage strong isn’t said once at the altar. It is said again and again, in small, ordinary moments, on busy Mondays and tired Thursday nights.

Over the years I have sat beside husbands and wives who had loved each other for fifty and sixty years. What struck me most was not grand romantic gestures. It was the little things: a hand reached for, a cup of tea brought without asking, a gentle word at the right time. Lasting love is built from small yeses.

So here are seven simple ways to say yes to your spouse this week. You don’t have to do them all. Pick one or two, and start today.

1. Leave a little note

Tuck a few words where your spouse will find them: in a lunch bag, on the bathroom mirror, inside a coat pocket. It doesn’t have to be poetry. “I’m proud of you” or “Thank you for today” is enough. Small words, found unexpectedly, say “I was thinking about you” louder than any speech.

“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:32)

2. Praise them where others can hear

Most of us save our compliments for private moments, if we give them at all. This week, say something good about your husband or wife in front of the children, a friend or your family. Hearing yourself honored in public builds something deep inside a person.

“Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.” (Proverbs 31:28)

3. Do one chore that is usually theirs

Take out the trash they always take out. Make the coffee they always make. Fold the laundry that is usually waiting for them. Don’t announce it; just do it. Love often looks like quietly carrying someone else’s load for a day.

“Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” (Philippians 2:4)

4. Put the phone down and really listen

Choose one meal or one evening and put both phones in another room. Ask, “What was the best and the hardest part of your day?” Then listen all the way to the end, without fixing, rushing or checking a screen. Being fully heard is one of the rarest gifts in marriage.

“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” (James 1:19)

5. Pray together for one minute

Many couples feel awkward praying out loud together, so start small. Hold hands for sixty seconds. Thank God for one thing about each other and ask Him for one thing you both need. One minute a day can change the whole atmosphere of a home.

“For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:20)

6. Plan something simple just for fun

It doesn’t need to cost money. A walk after dinner, a picnic on the living room floor, an old song you both love. Laughter is not a luxury in marriage; it is part of the glue. Put one small, joyful thing on the calendar this week.

“Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 9:9)

7. Let one small thing go

There is probably something little that keeps bothering you: the cap off the toothpaste, the shoes by the door, the way they load the dishwasher. This week, choose to let one of those go, quietly and completely. Not every battle needs to be fought. Some things simply need to be covered with love.

“Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up.” (1 Corinthians 13:4)

Start today. Say yes again tomorrow.

None of these take much time or money. But together, week after week, they tell your husband or wife the same beautiful thing: “I still choose you.”

If you’d like a little help saying yes every day, my new devotional The Daily Yes: 365 Days of Love for Couples Who Keep Choosing Each Other is coming soon. Each day gives you a Scripture, a short reading, a question to talk about, a prayer for two and one small act of love, just like the ones above.

Which of these seven will you try first? I’d love to hear how it goes.

With love,
Peace