I don’t believe in karma, I do believe that you reap what you sow though.

Galatians 6:7 (NASB)
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.

In other words, if you kick the dog when you walk in the door at the end of the day don’t expect the dog to meet you at the door with his tail wagging. If you sow bitterness, you will reap bitterness. If you sow mercy and grace, you will reap mercy and grace.

So, what does karma or reaping what you sow have to do with marriage? A lot.

It amazes me how blind we can be to our actions affect how others relate to us. Marriage is the ideal environment to observe people reaping what they have sown. Just as an example if a spouse comes home at the end of the day always in a bad mood that spouse shouldn’t be surprised if their mate isn’t excited to see them come through the door. The cool reception may not help with the mood but the failure to recognize the foul mood as the cause of the issues is often overlooked by the returning spouse. The spouse that is giving the cool reception probably doesn’t get that the cool reception isn’t going to help the mood any and so we see the cycle begin. Soon both spouses are reaping a harvest of bitterness.

Cycles happen all of the time in marriage. In his book Love & Respect talks about The Crazy Cycle. The Crazy Cycle basically says that without respect a husband will react without love and that without love a wife will react without respect. I’ve seen it in my marriage. Cycles begin and they spin until they are recognized, dissected and stopped.

Sowing discontent will begin a cycle in your marriage and that cycle of discontent will spin until someone does something about it. If you do not like the behavior you are receiving from your spouse you should change the way you relate to them.

I’ll have more to say about sowing and reaping later. Do you see how your actions and reactions can be sowing a cycle of discontent in your marriage?