Bombarding your spouse with praise and cultivating charity are two things that will enhance just about any marriage, Mark D. Ogletree said in an Aug. 20 session of BYU Education Week.

Ogletree, a marriage and family therapist, taught the class "Thursday Is Showering with Positives" as the third installment of a four-part series called "Improve Your Marriage This Week."

According to Ogletree, praise works wonders in marriage because rewarded behavior continues (conversely, nagging always leads to resistance). Thus the actualization of the following four statements will result in positive praise becoming an effective marital implement.

• Today I will focus on overlooking the negative aspects of my spouse.
• Today, I will focus on the positive in my marriage!
• Today, I will compliment my spouse on his/her positive attributes.
• I will show my spouse how much I appreciate him/her.

As gospel principles go, charity is extremely pertinent to marriage. If one prays for the gift of charity as Mormon exhorts in Moroni 7:48, spiritual eyes will be opened to view one's spouse in a more favorable and heavenly light.

See the full story on ldschurchnews.com.

---

This story is provided by the LDS Church News, an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is produced weekly by the Deseret News.