Pride

President Ezra Taft Benson gave a powerful talk titled "Beware of Pride".  In this talk he spoke of the many dangers of pride as well as the hidden prideful actions we may overlook.  Included in those actions is "enmity toward our fellowmen, we are tempted daily to elevate ourselves above others and diminish them."  One way we can avoid elevating ourselves above our spouse is to let them influence you.  By allowing your spouse to influence you you are showing their opinions have merit, and admit you may not always know best.

Some of the ways Charles and I have influences each other are:

I love to coordinate clothing,.  Charles knows this will now often see what I am wearing to church and put on a matching tie.  When we go on family trips he is supportive in my wanting to pack and sometimes purchase coordinating clothes so we all look uniform in any pictures we take.  This really isn't a big deal or of any real importance but it makes me happy, and it strengthens our relationship.

All Packed up with coordinating outfits ready for our vacation

This sounds a bit spoiled as I type it but there came a point when we were really busy and I asked Charles is we could possibly fit it into our budget to have someone come out and do basic housecleaning once a week.  Charles said he would love a housekeeper, but if we were going to hire someone to help with our responsibilities he would rather have a landscaper.  We discussed it and came to the conclusion that he's busier than I am and keeping the yard maintained is largely his responsibility.  We both agreed to hire someone to do basic yard service.  We discussed our options, both of our opinions were weighed and in the end we made a unanimous decision we can both be happy with.  

This is not my yard, but you get the idea.

Although these are both simple examples that really have no eternal consequences, the point I am trying to make is by allowing your spouse to influence you in both large and small ways we are overcoming the evils of pride and strengthening our marriages at the same time.  A win win situation.