A HAPPY HOME AND A DEVOTED HUSBAND

“Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth” (Proverbs 5:18). “Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun”(Ecc. 9:9).

In all of the realms of their marriage relationship, the husband is to rejoice and find joy with, in, through, and concerning his wife. He must not be filled with annoyance over her troublesome attributes, but must be filled with joy over her endearing qualities. He must not be regularly complaining about her faults and failures, but must be ever rejoicing over her efforts and accomplishments. He must not seek to avoid her company as much as possible, but must choose to enjoy her company. Yea, the husband must seek to make their time together upon this earth as happy and enjoyable as possible. He must live joyfully with his wife all the days of their life together. He must seek, as much as he is able, to create a happy, joyful, and enjoyable atmosphere within their marriage relationship, that he may find joy in and with his wife and that she may find joy in and with him. Let the husband then seek for ways to put a smile on his wife’s face, a bounce in her step, and a song in her heart.

A HAPPY HOME AND A DEVOTED WIFE

“Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.” (Eph. 5:33).

What then does it mean for the wife to reverence her husband? It means that she is to maintain a spirit and attitude of respect, esteem, and honor toward him. She is to hold him in an exalted place within her heart and to treat him with honor through her behavior. She is not to be critical of him, but to lift him up with honor. She is to adore him as her husband, to be attentive unto his thoughts and desires, and to be supportive of him and his pursuits. She is to be ever concerned to please him and to be ever cautious not to offend him. Though the wife will certainly be aware of her husband’s weaknesses and unworthiness, yet in her submission unto him she is to maintain a spirit of reverence toward him “as unto the Lord.”

By Scott Markle, taken from God’s Wisdom for Marriage and the Home