A lasting relationship is one that can only be separated by death, and that relationship comes from these core values adhered strictly by its partners involved in marriage contracts.
1. Trust
This core value stands above all others. It is the foundation of your relationship. Without trust you basically have nothing.
2. Loyalty
This core value is extremely important and goes hand in hand with trust. Being loyal and having a loyal partner assures that both of you are on the same team.
3. Religion
This core value is paramount, especially if you are going to raise children together. Religion has a strong place in many people’s lives.
4. Family
Decide early on what your values are on family. Do you want to live near your extended family? How often do you want to visit? Do you want to have a family of your own? If so, how many? This core value, if not shared, could mean the end of your relationship.
5. Communication
Communicating with each other will bring you closer; allow you to get to know each other as deeply as you can. If you like to keep things to yourself, believing that no one needs to know your business, not even your partner, and your partner loves to talk about every feeling, then the relationship will more than likely fail.
6. Lifestyle
You like to go hiking every weekend and your mate loves to stay home binging New Amsterdam. Lifestyles are important to every relationship. If you both like to do different things all the time, spending no more than a few minutes a week together, then your relationship is less likely to prosper.
7. Honesty
The value of honesty is priceless. When you and your partner are honest with each other; when you both believe that honesty is the only way to carry on your relationship, you are saying that your union is decidedly important to you.
8. Self-Discipline
You may wonder what self-discipline is doing on this list. Let me explain. Let’s suppose you get up every morning at 5:00 a.m. to work out. You are disciplined about your eating habits, maintain a clean home, and delay gratification for future benefits.
You regard self-discipline as a strong virtue. But what if your partner hits the snooze button every morning? What if he doesn’t get out of bed until 9:00 a.m. and then runs out the door with a bag of chips for breakfast? How would you feel? In a case like this, resentment could easily fester.
9. Self-Improvement
When I was working on my Master’s Degree, we were told that many marriages resulted in divorce during this phase of the program.
It was then explained to us that if one partner is on the path of learning & self-improvement, and the other partner remains stagnant, the gap between the couple could widen.
If you are on a continual quest to become the best version of yourself, and your mate doesn’t care to go beyond the knowledge he/she acquired in high school, consider this a cause for alarm.
10. Finances
In order for your relationship to flourish, you must have similar thoughts and goals about how you manage your finances.
If one of your core values is saving money for a rainy day, and your partner’s is to throw it away like it grows on trees, then this is going to create havoc in the most fundamental parts of your partnership
