For the next few days I will be reviewing the most read posts of 2013. I will end the year with around 275 posts. Over one-fourth of those posts have been about marriage.

Before reviewing the top 5, I want to highlight what I think is the most important post on marriage from the previous year. While it did not make the Top 5, it is the foundational idea behind every marriage post: The Most Important Marriage Advice I Could Ever Give. Having the humility to recognize you don’t know it all is the key to a good marriage. It gives a couple the willingness to seek help and learn.

Here are the Most Read Posts of 2013:

1. The Warning Sign of a Bad Marriage You Might Miss It surprises me this was the most read marriage post of the year. Clearly this article hit on an important topic. The perception of what a bad marriage looks like is often not the reality. Far more marriages end with a whimper than an explosion.

2. How I Predict Divorce Based on the Wedding Cake This was a fun post with an important truth. Respect plays a key role in marriage (as I wrote here). How a couple exchanges the wedding cake can reveal how much respect they have for one another.

3. The Most Overlooked Characteristic of Who You Want to Marry Suffering was a theme of 2013 both professionally and personally. This post was born as I watched my wife handle a terminal diagnosis with her Dad. It drove home to me how fortunate I was to have someone like her. A couple who can suffer together can stay together through almost any issue.

4. Four Lies to Never Tell Your Spouse Lies will destroy a marriage. Most of them fall into one of four categories. If you find yourself telling your spouse a lie, find a counselor and get help. Most lies are eventually found out. It’s far better to handle the issue before it is exposed.

5. You Will Have an Affair If… Most affairs happen because a person has a lack of boundaries in their life. They don’t plan on having an affair, but the also do not make a plan to prevent an affair from happening.

Which idea or post meant the most to you this year? What marriage issue would you like for me to cover in 2014?