Does the Gottman Method of Relationship Therapy permit a parable or two, earthly stories paralleling God’s gracious method of relating with us? Three possibilities:
As relationships grow, 1) Couples “Express Fondness and Admiration” for each other. Christian worship? God speaking love and people responding: see Psalm 8! 2) Couples make a point to “Turn Toward One Another,…[simply] expressing interest or acknowledgement v. ignoring.” Is that daily praying? 3) And this: “69% [of conflicts] are perpetual in nature, meaning they are present throughout the course of time….” How hard we work at trying to get the sinless, perfect relationship with God, while at least 69% of our conflicts with God are perpetual in this life!
I do not discount the evil of sin, its destructiveness,—I have too much personal experience to do so! Still, it seems that as the Gottman Method identifies good options for human relationships it can help us see better God’s relationship with us. God expresses fondness for us, turns towards us, expects that there will be troubles in the relationship—all of that in grace, in Christ.
(The Gottman data was retrieved on 18 June from https://www.gottman.com/blog/an-introduction-to-the-gottman-method-of-relationship-therapy/)