Benjamin, thanks for a fantastic article! I found myself nodding in agreement at your points. One thing I have noticed in my work with couples as a Chaplain is that while it is true we don’t tend to change our habits, life does tend to change us. We grow. We revert. We are rarely static. Thus the marriage covenant is vital because I’m not the same person my wife married nearly 13 years ago. Each day we endeavor to love and serve the person sitting across the table today. Not the one who was there a decade ago.

Also, your story about being OCD military clean made me chuckle because my wife and I had an argument about that same thing very early in our marriage.