Communication gives life to your marriage. Take time to discover your spouse again and again, and allow your spouse to deeply know you.

Positive communication allows couples to become emotionally connected. Two individuals can understand each other better when they listen well and honestly express their needs, thoughts and feelings. Healthy couples communicate about daily matters, and they have positive conversations that enrich their relationship. They are willing to share both joys and sorrows, dedicate time to regular communication, and strive to learn more about each other.

Related Content: Take our free Focus on Marriage Assessment to see where you rank in the area of communication.

The marriage-triage experts at Focus on the Family’s National Institute of Marriage (NIM) tell us that lack of communication is the most commonly mentioned problem among couples who are struggling to keep their relationships alive. Conversely, the best research indicates that healthy marriages are always built around a solid core of open, honest, and empathetic person-to-person dialogue. It’s all about both spouses becoming transparent enough to know and be known at the most basic level of their humanity.

How do you foster and promote this kind of dialogue and interaction in a marriage? Here are some ideas to keep in mind.

Vive la difference!

Men and women are created for community, to be known intimately, to feel understood and still be desired. Among all other human relationships, marriage is supposed to be the place where this process of communion and “in-othering” takes place at the deepest and most intimate level. Unfortunately, it isn’t always easy. In fact, it can be the most difficult task you face.

Why should this be so? There are many reasons. Firstly, you and your spouse are two different people who come from two different backgrounds. Secondly, you’re also male and female – representatives of the two “halves” of humanity, two opposite sexes. Thirdly, you can’t read each other’s minds. All too often you may find it difficult even to relate to each other’s viewpoints. This may sound like a problem, but it’s actually a blessing. While you can’t automatically look into your spouse’s soul, you can learn to know and be known intimately. This is actually better than reading minds because learning to know and be known forces you to become better marriage spouses – and better people – in many different ways.

Whatever your differences, you need to do more than grudgingly face up to them. You need to learn how to revel in them. You need to celebrate the light, dark and contrasting colours that make up the blended one-flesh union you call “us.” Positive communication makes this possible.

Enjoy the journey

Thriving couples know that the way they respond to their differences is far more important than how they resolve them. They understand that in marriage, it’s the process that counts. Real communication is a journey – it’s about walking humbly with each other. And the journey is more important than the destination.

Dr. Bob Paul and Dr. Bob Burbee, two of NIM’s most skilled therapists, describe this journey or process in terms of something they call Heart Talk. They point out that there are actually two types of communication used by people involved in a close relationship: Work Talk and Heart Talk. Work Talk, they explain, is task-oriented. It focuses on problem-solving and the accomplishment of goals. Heart Talk tries to go deeper. It’s concerned about the relationship and driven by feelings and a desire for understanding. Instead of a task or a goal, it aims at cohesion, attachment and the strengthening of the interpersonal bond.

How do you do Heart Talk? It’s primarily a matter of caring about the other person’s feelings and taking turns as speaker and listener. The folks at NIM sum it up with an acronym: ICU. First, identify (I) your feelings and the feelings of your spouse. Second, decide to care (C) about those feelings. Third, seek to understand (U) those feelings with the assistance of your spouse. Then keep on talking and listening until both of you are satisfied with the results.

More than words

What is it that keeps so many husbands and wives from experiencing this kind of heart-to-heart connection? Dr. Gary Smalley suggests that somewhere along the line, both parties have bought into the idea that real communication occurs only when they understand each other’s words. That’s unfortunate, because, as the concept of Heart Talk demonstrates very clearly, words are actually just the beginning. Genuine two-in-one bonding only kicks into gear when we get behind mere words and drill down into the heart of the matter.

The phenomenon of interpersonal communication is something far more robust and proactive than mere talk. It involves openness and empathy – a willingness to enter into the thoughts and feelings of another, to weep when he/she weeps and to laugh when he/she laughs. That’s because real communication is about knowing and being known from the inside out.

Stay curious

Finally, it’s important to remember that relationships are dynamic. They change over time, as do the individuals who are party to them. There are a couple of fundamental reasons for this. Every one of us is wired differently, which suggests that we are endlessly complex and mysterious. On the other hand, we are finite, mortal and imperfect, and this implies that there is always room for growth and improvement in every human personality. No matter how long you are married to your spouse, you will never completely grasp everything there is to know about him/her. This is why it’s so important to stay curious.

Husbands and wives who stick together are good students of each other. They learn to ask questions instead of passing judgment. Rather than lashing out in anger when a spouse behaves inexplicably, they know how to say, “Tell me what you’re thinking” or “Help me understand why you reacted that way in that situation.” These couples feel an openness to share with each other on a heart-to-heart level. Not only are they comfortable talking about both facts and feelings, but they prioritise communication and schedule regular time to connect. In these ways, they fan the flames of ongoing romance and keep the wonder of their first love alive.

From the Focus on the Family website at focusonthefamily.com. © 2016 Focus on the Family. All rights reserved. Used with permission.