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We buy dark chocolate for our home candy dish.  Reason being: Anne and I do NOT like dark chocolate.  Our kids don’t either. Therefore, the candy dish stays full and look pretty with the shiny foil untouched by human hands.

But the point of desperation came. It’s that sweet-tooth that appears around 10:30 at night.  You know what I’m talking about.  As you sit back in the late night fare that television offers you, there begins a deep desire for your palate to be indulging in the sweetness of chocolate.  There was none to be found except in the candy dish.  It’s amazing what desperation will make you do. 

I grabbed the Ghirardelli dark chocolate with sea salt caramel.  It was the beginning of the end.

The dish was empty in three days. 

This month in my 2 minute devo’s, I’ve been covering what the Bible says about our words.  As I was reading through scripture, I though it would be wise to do at least one of my weekly marriage blogs on the words we use.  It is during my devo-prep, that I came across Proverbs 16:24. 

1 – Dark Chocolate is Very Nutritious.  If you buy quality dark chocolate with a high cocoa content, then it is actually quite nutritious.The good stuff is rich in Fiber, Iron, Magnesium, Copper, Manganese and a few other minerals. But with the nutrition comes responsibility in how you eat it.

Kind words are no different in their impact. Pleasant, positive, encouraging words full of love and faith are packed with nutrition for your marriage. It will strengthen your marital muscles as you journey the marathon of life together.  So many couples take each other for granted and let their kind words be reserved for special occasions and/or when they want something.  Meanwhile, their marriage is being starved for attention.  They are operating on a nutrient depleted marriage.  Beef up the kind words and give your relationship the nutrients it needs and deserves.

2 – Dark Chocolate helps the blood flow.  Two areas that specifically benefit: The brain and the heart.  Studies show that eating a small amount of dark chocolate two or three times each week can help lower your blood pressure. Dark chocolate improves blood flow and may help prevent the formation of blood clots. Dark chocolate  increases blood flow to the brain as well as to the heart, so it can help improve cognitive function. Dark chocolate also helps reduce your risk of stroke.

Words/communication are the blood flow of marriage.  Kind words help foster great openness and health. What is different, is your spouse needs them more than two to three times a week. Kind words need to be given and received with that frequency per day.  They are as addictive as candy and can build up and grow your marriage into health.  There are too many people assuming your spouse knows how you feel.  It’s time to let your kindness be heard and, by doing that, you reduce your risk of stroke (or something just as damaging) to your marriage.

3 – Dark Chocolate is Full of Antioxidants. Dark chocolate is LOADED with antioxidants. Antioxidants help free your body of free radicals, which cause oxidative damage to cells. Free radicals are implicated in the aging process and may be a cause of cancer, so eating antioxidant rich foods like dark chocolate can protect you from many types of cancer and slow the signs of aging.  Dark chocolate, literally, disarms the free radicals.

Kind words are powerful at disarming what is set up to do you harm. They will target all sorts of situations and circumstances that the devil has designed to cause damage and death to your marriage.  Kind words will not magically make things go away.  But they will lower defenses and usher in health.  Over time, consistent, authentic, and frequent words of kindness will disarm difficult moments from happening as well as be a strength through difficult seasons in marriage.

4 – Dark Chocolate may contain preventative elements.  From lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease to improving brain function, dark chocolate possesses so many healthy possibilities. This amazing sweet contains theobromine, which has been shown to harden tooth enamel and help lower your risk of getting cavities (of course combined with brushing). It has chemicals are a mild stimulant to help suppress coughs as well as elements great for your skin.

Kind words, used liberally, have so many preventative benefits. Conflict is going to naturally happen. Impasses occur.  What people don’t realize, is that a steady diet of kind words can help either avoid unnecessary conflict or lay down a foundation of strong edification that will give guidance through the storms of life.

I’ll give you a TRUTH: You don’t build a lighthouse out of desperation when the fog rolls in. Your steady marital diet of kind words  will build a strong watch tower that will be a strong guidance.  It paves the way for the light of Christ to shine to give your marriage hope, wisdom, and direction for the journey ahead. 

Like I said, kind words will not magically make things go away.  But over time, consistent, authentic, and frequent words of kindness will disarm difficult moments from happening as well as be a strength through difficult seasons in marriage.

Sit back, get some Ghirardelli dark chocolate with sea salt caramel, and speak some kind words to each other. Trust me, kind words will be like candy to your spouse “sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.” 

DISCLAIMER: I am not responsible for any calories and or lbs that may be gained after reading this blog nor has Ghirardelli paid for this blog as an advertisement for their delectable sweets.

Thanks for letting me ramble…