power

When you think of power and marriage what do you think of?
Here are a few thinks that I think of:

• Respect
• Control
• Dominance
• Authority
• Pride

In all of these things in my mind to have a negative connotation. So is having power in a marriage and a family a good thing? I think like all things power is good in moderation. I think you should have some power over your kids but to have power over your spouse is almost abuse to me. When there is too much power on one person it can lead to an unhealthy relationship and can not only effect the marriage but also in parenting. For example when one parent has more power over the children then the other the children won't ever listen to the parent with less power. Another form of power is when you use rewards to get what you want. Something that was said in class was "a reward is something a superior gives to an inferior" The very act of giving a reward is to use power.

What can we do in our lives to avoid using unhealthy amounts of power?