Are you walking in Front, Behind, or Side-by-Side? (Part 2)
I’m continuing the discussion that I started yesterday about some of the hindrances to a married couple being one. A husband needs respect, and his wife needs to feel loved. When these things are missing in a marriage, how can the couple truly achieve oneness? So, here’s the second roadblock that I want to highlight:
2. When the wife finds it difficult to respect her husband because she doesn’t feel the love that she so deserves. God commanded husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the Church, and women are to respect their own husbands. (Ephesians 5:22 - 25) Christ gave his life for His bride, the church. It involved a lot of work. This is perhaps where some women have found it hard to respect their husbands, if he isn’t a good provider, or if he isn’t acting in the most loving manner. Did you know that a lot of well-meaning husbands think that the fact they are working is their demonstration of love? And it is! But we wives need affection and kindness also! This is where the problems begin within some marriages, because the wife doesn’t feel loved, so then she doesn’t feel a strong desire to respect her husband.
And ladies, we also need to find small ways of demonstrating to our husbands that we still love and adore them! We do need to walk that delicate tight rope of remaining true to ourselves and to what we need from our husbands while also giving them the honor that they need.
I have a puppy, and I am learning that he really likes it when I praise him for doing something right. I often think how my husband (who I often call “my baby” when I’m thinking of him) could use some of that praise too! Just like I’m giving the puppy. (But don’t tell him I said this, lol!) We all need praise and to be told that we are admired for doing something good!
And if we are to respect our husbands, we need to ditch that “Eve” mentality. Eve should have told that snake (the devil) to talk to her husband. Now, we don’t know what Adam would have said, but that’s what she should have done.
Think on it: How are you doing with showing your husband the respect that he needs? Is there a problem because you don’t feel the love coming from him? Be mindful that our respect comes across in our tone as well as what we say. Pray and ask the Father to help in whatever areas you are lacking. He is a God who answers prayer!
Lean in: I go into more depth about the wife’s need for affection and also the husband’s need for sex and honor, in my upcoming book, “Marriage Glue”. If you join the waitlist today, I’ll send you two prayers that are in my book. One is for help in your marriage if there’s been strife or division. The other is a prayer to be one. If you are a man reading this, you can still put in your email to receive the prayers! And you can get my book for your wife. God Bless!
