Two of the common great enemies to any good marriage are selfishness and pride. When our spouse tells us that we need to change a habit of ours we might immediately go into one of our defensive moods and even answer back that they have many things they need to improve on. Instead of listening and trying to understand why they feel that way about us we get defensive. This is because we are only thinking about ourselves. We allow one of the horsemen get into our marriage. Our pride does not want to accept that we might need to change. We need to allow the Savior into our lives and turn towards our spouse, or in other words, we need to work towards making them happy. We need to put their needs first. Having an eternal perspective is going to help get us where we need to be. We will realize that each time we get irritated it is an opportunity for us to develop traits that make us more Christlike.
As we put our spouse first we will find that they have the desire to reciprocate that same love and they will put us first as well. In contrast, when we only worry about our own needs and desires, then we miss out on opportunities to grow together. No man can reach his full potential without his wife, and vice versa. We need each other.
Fighting For a Happy Marriage 