Ephesians 5:33b: And the wife should respect her husband.
Respect is his primary need, his deepest desire.

I Put My Followers First

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

The Reluctant Wives

As sales of my respect cards have dwindled to nothing, I've been pondering the reasons why.   Why are women, who appreciate the card messages, reluctant to give them to their husbands?   

photo by Brandon Cohen
Sometimes the wife says she cannot respect her husband because he doesn't deserve it.   

Sometimes the wife is trying to change him into something more respectable.

In each case, the wife does not see the worth of her husband as God does. 

Sadly, a wife's attempts to change her husband are always contrary to the efforts of God.   

In either case the wife has rejected the man that she married for an imaginary future personality she expects to inhabit his body.  

I've done both.  The marriages failed.  Lives were ruined.

In the midst of all these thoughts, my stepson posted the photograph of a swan.  It reminded me of the story of "The Ugly Duckling".  I loved that story as a child.  I could relate to the ugly duckling and the belittling, badgering disrespect of those who said they loved me.

The moral of the story was not lost on me then and it is more pertinent now.  The swan achieved the beauty designed in him by his Creator after he was removed from the ridicule.

As a wife we must be careful not to disrespect the necessary ugly duckling stages of our husband's life experience but respect the man God created him to be.  


A related post with additional parallels can be found in "A Little Respect", by Gorges Smythe. 

3 comments:

Beth Zimmerman said...

Nothing to say but amen! You are so right!

Tylaine said...

Oh Sharon once again this post seems to be written just for me. I am so guilty of both of those things. Thankyou for the reminder. :)

nannykim said...

I think when we respect our hubby it shows and they really don't need a card to know it or for us to show it.
Some of us don't buy a lot of cards, but we do our own notes. This could be why.

Can I get an Amen?