When a couple value their friendship with their heavenly Father, they readily apply his advice, which in turn helps them to avoid and overcome problems that could cause their love for each other to cool off. Spiritual people also strive to imitate Jehovah and cultivate qualities that he displays, such as kindness, patience, and forgiveness. (Eph. 4:32–5:1) A couple who display such qualities make it easier for love to thrive. A sister named Lena, who has been married for more than 25 years, says, “It’s easy to love and respect a spiritual person.” Consider a Bible example. When Jehovah had to choose a couple to be the parents of the future Messiah, He chose Joseph and Mary out of the many descendants of David. Why? They both had a personal relationship with Jehovah, and Jehovah knew that they would build their marriage around their love for him. w23.05 21 ¶3-4

Although our Leader, Jesus, is perfect, those whom he uses to take the lead here on earth are not. We may struggle to obey them, especially if they ask us to do something that we do not want to do. The apostle Peter once hesitated to obey. When instructed by an angel to eat animals that were unclean under the Mosaic Law, Peter refused​—not once, but three times! (Acts 10:9-16) Why? The new direction did not make sense to him. On the other hand, the apostle Paul obeyed when the Christian older men in Jerusalem directed him to take four men to the temple and cleanse himself ceremonially to show that he was observing the Law. Paul knew that Christians were no longer under the Law. And he had not done anything wrong. Still, Paul “took the men the next day and cleansed himself ceremonially along with them.” (Acts 21:23, 24, 26) Paul’s obedience promoted unity.​—Rom. 14:19, 21. w23.10 10 ¶15-16

You probably would not think of fear as an important quality for a good friendship. However, those who want to have a close friendship with Jehovah must “fear him.” No matter how long we have been serving Jehovah, all of us need to maintain a healthy fear of him. But what does it mean to fear God? A person who has a proper fear of God loves Him and does not want to do anything that would damage his relationship with Him. Jesus had such “godly fear.” (Heb. 5:7) He did not feel a morbid dread of Jehovah. (Isa. 11:2, 3) Instead, he felt a deep love for him and wanted to obey him. (John 14:21, 31) Like Jesus, we feel deep respect and awe for Jehovah because He is loving, wise, just, and powerful. We also know that Jehovah loves us and is affected by how we respond to his guidance. We can either make Jehovah feel pain or make his heart rejoice.​—Ps. 78:41; Prov. 27:11. w23.06 14 ¶1-2; 15 ¶5