Poverty and shame will come to him who disdains correction, but he who regards a rebuke will be honored. Proverbs 13:18

Think of some of the greatest inventions—the light bulb, the telephone, and the airplane, for example. These things all have at least this one thing in common: It took hundreds of failed efforts before the inventors achieved final success.

We husbands and wives are inventors. We invent one of the most important "products" of all—intimacy in marriage. And just like the inven­tors of the items listed above, we will make many mistakes along the way as we invent this intimacy.

As I (David) make those mistakes, I must be willing to accept correction and rebuke from my spouse. When I fail, I must be willing to hear that I may need to try something else so that our marriage can be more successful. I may try and fail numerous times for every success, but each failure can be used to find a better path.

It has not always been easy to hear, "Sweet­heart, I'm looking forward to the day when you are able to prioritize time for just the two of us," or "David, I would like to be able to count on you to support me when it comes to the kids:' Each time I've heard those words of rebuke, they've shaken my world. But the Spirit has helped me regard them as truth. The words have been said with compassion, and the Lord has used them to change my life.