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In-Laws

A couple sitting on the couch with his mother who is hugging his wife

How to Strengthen Your Marriage by Loving Your Mother-In-Law

Learn how to strengthen your marriage and love your husband by building a good relationship with your mother-in-law.

This advice for in-laws can keep great relationships with married children, like this photo of an elderly couple with their married children illustrates.

Advice for In-Laws to Avoid Conflict with Married Children

Healthy in-law relationships contribute to the success of marriage.

Relating to your-inlaws can be tough. This photo shows a young couple smiling harmoniously with their in-laws.

7 Strategies for Relating to In-laws for a Strong Marriage

Together, you and your spouse can use healthy strategies that will foster peace in relating to your in-laws. 

A young couple in a kitchen talking to their in-laws. Controlling in-laws trying to run your life is a difficult challenge.

What If In-Laws Try to Run Our Lives?

Relating to controlling in-laws is one of the trickiest problems a marriage can face. If you believe your in-laws are trying to run your life, the following principles might help.

A mother-in-law welcomes her daughter and her husband into her home.

The Laws of In-Laws

Many couples wait until they are so frustrated with their in-laws that they lash out with harsh and condemning words and fracture the relationship. But when we speak with respect, we are likely to get respect.

Improve Your Marriage With Boundaries

As a couple, decide on your boundary lines. How can you respect one another when issues arise and you don’t agree?

Logo for Focus on the Family Marriage Podcast

In-Laws and Staying Committed

There’s an old saying about marriage, “you don’t just marry your spouse, you marry the person’s family.” If we’re honest, sometimes learning to get along with in-laws is a big adjustment. John, Erin and Greg share about staying committed while trying to get along with your spouse’s family. Featuring Mrs. Melanie Shankle.

Newlywed couple walking in a field.

Our Newlywed Christmas

This young couple embraced their first Christmas season together with a sense of adventure. They chose to experience three celebrations.

three-people-talking-and-drinking-coffee

Living With In-Laws

Living with in-laws can strongly affect your relationship with your spouse, either positively or negatively.

How to Overcome In-Law Problems

The relationship between a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law can be painful, but it doesn’t have to be. The issue often is a lack of trust. This article offers five practical tips for building trust.

Unrealistic Expectations and Time With Family

When pressure to have the perfect holiday builds relationship tension, we need to change our unrealistic expectations. Then we can better appreciate the time spent connecting with family members.

Coping With Family Tension at Christmas

There is no formula for settling Christmas conflicts because they’re highly emotional interactions with the people we care about the most. But knowing what some other couples have done can help.

Avoid Yuletide Tension: Talk About Expectations

Couples often have unspoken expectations about the Christmas season — and that’s where the problems begin. Unfortunately, each person might think his or her way of celebrating the holidays is “right.”

Java With Juli: Love Your Husband by Loving Your Mother-in-Law

By building a good relationship with your husband’s mom, you can show your husband that you love him. Here are some ways you can reach out to your mother-in-law and create a peaceful family bond.

Duck Dynasty: Food, Family and Faith

The Robertson family has built a multimillion-dollar empire on its duck calls, but they’ve left no doubt that the family’s foundation is built on faith — and good food shared at family mealtimes.

Holiday Marriage Questions

Visits from extended family members can add to the joy — and stress — of the season. Talk with your spouse before guests arrive to compare expectations and plan ways to support each other as a couple.

Holidays and the In-Laws

There are no specific right and wrong ways for families to spend the holidays together, but there could be better ways.

young woman upset listening to husband and mother in law in background

What if an In-Law Doesn’t Accept Me?

These steps will help you deal with those sticky in-law situations.

Dear Focus on the Family Reader, 

The Southern Poverty Law Center couldn’t be more wrong. They recently named Focus on the Family to its radical and inflammatory “hate group” list. Ridiculous!

The ministry you support is pro-person, not pro-sin. We follow the infallible biblical truth that God created two (and only two) genders, and that marriage is a sacred institution between one man and one woman. These are divinely inspired beliefs held by faithful Christians for thousands of years, not hate speech.

Will you give today to stand up for truth and provide resources that invest in God’s plan for marriage and families?

We won’t back down from God’s calling and will continue to fight for families. Together, we will endure and combat hate with Christ’s overcoming love.

Jim Daly posing for a headshot photo

Jim Daly
President of Focus on the Family