Love is not just an emotion. It is also a decision.

If you marry someone, this person becomes your top priority. Just making them happy, being generous and caring should be an automatic, almost contractual obligation.

Just as most consider fidelity to be a non-negotiable responsibility in a marriage, consider being kind, forgiving and generous toward your spouse as a similarly required duty of marriage. Even on the tough days.

Excerpted from Marriage 911, Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, LCSW-R and Chaya Feuerman, LCSW-R authors.