Congressman Anthony Weiner did what most folks who get caught red handed do and that is deny or lie. Now that 10 days have gone by and more information was going to be released Representative Weiner has confessed that he has been engaged in inappropriate online relationships for about 3 years. The question is, can his confession help your marriage situation?

Well, obviously the infidelity issue that Mr. Weiner is dealing with is personal and between him and his wife. However, his public disclosure sheds a lot of light on some of the issues that couples are facing today and can be used to perhaps help your marriage.

From what I could gather from the disclosed information, Mrs. Weiner trusted her husband, whom she married a year or so ago. If his account is accurate, his wife was aware of his online relationships prior to their marriage. I commend them for discussing the matter before hand but I think we can all learn from this experience and that is to hold your spouse accountable.

I have no doubt that Mr. Weiner went to great lengths to keep his online affairs secret. However, I also think that as a spouse who knows that their partner has a weakness, it’s important to keep them honest. So as a reminder to help your marriage avoid this type of breakdown, it’s important to pay attention and not take for granted that your spouse has conquered his or her demons.

Another helpful thing that we can take from this situation to help us in our marriage was his facing the music alone during the press conference. Sometimes, as spouses we want to fight all of our spouse’s battles and that’s sometimes creating an unhealthy dependency and becoming an enabler. I’m not suggesting that you abandon your spouse or leave him or her out in the cold, but at times taking responsibility means taking the heat for our action. Mrs. Weiner didn’t attend the press conference with her husband and it helps him to understand the seriousness of his actions and the implication to his marriage.

There may come a time in your marriage when you or your spouse has to own up to a serious mistake and not count on your spouse to give you an out. Don’t mistake your spouse’s tough love as lack of support but rather as a loving act.

This infidelity by Anthony Weiner is a good opportunity to discuss how you and your spouse are using social media networks and perhaps remind each other of the dangers of engaging in what seems like innocent conversations with strangers. There are some simple rules that can keep you from temptation and flirtation in the social arena.

1. Don’t join any networks geared toward dating or singles or finding out who is searching for you. If you do you are simply opening the door for inappropriate contacts or conversations.
2. Don’t open emails or click on links with subject lines like “Jessica just sent you a picture message” or “John has just updated his pictures, see them now”. If you do happen to know Jessica or John, odds are they wouldn’t send such a message. Be careful what you click on and what sites you visit and join.
3. Don’t accept friend requests or follow tweeters unless there is a personal relationship or business need.
4. Never accept a friend request or try to become friends with someone based on the picture you see. For one, your heart is in the wrong place and second they probably put up a fake picture because beauty and sexy attracts followers and visitors.

As I mentioned above, the online relationships Congressman Weiner participated in are really between him, his wife and the young ladies involved. However, I do think that we can always walk away with learning something when someone else makes a mistake.

I do realize that none of our marriages are perfect and we all have our ups and downs at times. It only becomes a problem if we let our problems continue to come between us and divide us. Perhaps you or your husband aren’t having an infidelity challenge but just need to get out of a rut. Well, the good news is that you can use resources to help in marriage.

Please take this opportunity to strengthen your marriage so that you hopefully won’t have to deal with an online infidelity issue like Anthony Weiner. If you do have such an obstacle to overcome, please take advantage of resources to help with restoring relationships.