Dennis Rainey: Is your spouse a confident decision maker?

Guest: Charlie is a very confident decision maker because he tries to take care of us financially. He takes care of us ... I think he looks into the future and tries to foresee things that might happen and he takes care of that.

Dennis Rainey: You could help your spouse become that kind of confident decision maker. I remember a time when I was frustrated. One of our children had been disobedient to my wife. Yet Barbara did not discipline the child. When I asked her why, she responded that she wasn't confident of her judgment. I was shocked and told her "You're a great mom. Trust your judgment." Later she shared with me how encouraging it was to have me believe in her.

You know, we need to be continually building up our spouses. If your mate has large doses of self-doubt, he or she will rarely trust his own judgment. Decision making becomes risky when a person doesn't have much confidence.

One final thought. If you see self-doubt in your husband or wife, take every opportunity that you have to build them up. Start tonight. Find a good decision or correct judgement that they made, and heap generous amounts of praise on them.

I'm Dennis Rainey, and that's Real Family Life.