Opinion
Best Way To “C.H.E.A.T” On Your Spouse
By Dr jalarth Uche Opara
Marriage is one of the greatest gifts of God to humanity an institution through which love is expressed, families are built, and humanity is sustained.
Properly handled, they need not destroy a marriage. In fact, they can become the ingredients that give a relationship depth and flavour. A marriage without healthy disagreements can sometimes be like a pot of soup filled with the finest meat, fish and stockfish but without salt, pepper or oil, full of ingredients, yet bland enough to cause nausea.
But there is something else every marriage needs: CHEAT. We met our spouses through the lenses of attraction. There was chemistry. There were butterflies. The mere thought of them could ignite emotions; their presence could brighten our day.
But feelings, however powerful, can wane when they are not deliberately nurtured. That is why marriage requires intentionality.You must CHEAT on your spouse every day.
CHEAT is that little stick that stirs a marriage when familiarity has allowed emotions to settle like sediment at the bottom of a stagnant vessel. It rekindles the fire when the flames have begun to flicker. It restores warmth when the whirlwind of life’s difficulties has made the relationship cold.
Marriage will encounter storms. Bills will come. Children will demand attention. Careers will become stressful. Health, family, finances and the pressures of everyday life will test even the strongest unions. But in the middle of all these, keep CHEATING.
No, not the kind of cheating that destroys trust, wounds the heart and violates the covenant. I am talking about a different kind of CHEAT—the kind that can save a marriage.
C.H.E.A.T. — (Cherish Her/Him, Every day, Affectionately and Tenderly.)
Cherish your spouse every day, affectionately and tenderly. Don’t wait for Valentine’s Day.Don’t wait for an anniversary.Don’t wait until your spouse complains. Don’t wait until the marriage is already gasping for breath.
CHEAT now. CHEAT deliberately. CHEAT consistently. Because sometimes, the marriage does not need another sermon, in another argument or another grand gesture.
Sometimes, it simply needs a spouse who remembers to say: “I still choose you. I still cherish you. I still love you.”This isn’t mere glibness or jejune romanticism. It is a simple but profound truth: what we deliberately nurture is more likely to survive what inevitably challenges it.
CHEAT!! And may your spouse never have to look outside the marriage for what you could have given them within it.
Jarlath Uche Opara
jarlathuche@gmail.com