Nope, I'm not talking about spiders or creepy crawlies. I am talking about when I hear another woman speaking badly about her husband in public. Oh, it just breaks my heart! I feel sorry for the husband and embarrassed for the wife. Doesn't she know what she is doing, how she is tearing down not only her husband but her marriage as well? Ephesians 5:33b tells us "and let the wife see that she respects her husband." I know, I know, we have been over this before but it is such a problem in today's world that I feel the need to discuss it again. We, as Christian wives, need to make sure we are following God's will in our role as a wife. We need to make sure our hearts, minds and attitudes are pleasing to Him. You can read another post about reverencing your husband in my archives from November 2007. If you are truly respecting your husband, you will not let one single negative word spill forth from your mouth. NOT ONE SINGLE ONE!! If you are truly being submissive, you would stand behind the decisions he makes, supporting him 100%. You wouldn't condemn them to your girlfriends later! Ladies, this is so important that we be mindful of our tongues and our hearts. If your heart is right in these matters, your tongue will follow. We need to consider how our husbands would feel if he heard us criticizing him to our girlfriends, would he be edified and lifted up or would he feel hurt and betrayed? Ephesians 4:29 says "Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers." Not only are you (we) tearing down our husbands when we speak negatively about him, but what about those we are talking to? How are we making them feel or what are we making them think? If they are single, are you representing marriage as the blessing God intended it to be? If they are married, are you giving her the impression it is okay to criticize and tear down her husband? Think about this: let's say you talk badly about your husband to your girlfriend, then she in turn talks badly about her husband and he finds out. He feels hurt and disrespected, she builds up anger and strife. They start arguing and their marriage goes down hill and ends in divorce, all because you spoke negatively about your own husband to her. Hmm, that is not something I would want to be responsible for, would you? What if your children over hear you? Oh my, the damage that can be done from that, causing your children to doubt and disrespect their father. Maybe they may will disrespect you for speaking in such a way about their father?
Ladies, I urge you to carefully consider your words and your heart. Are you harboring ill feelings toward your husband that my spill out of your mouth? Picture your heart as a cup, it fills up to the brim with whatever is being poured in and eventually will overflow, your mouth is your overflow valve from your heart. Make sure your heart is right and full of love, ask God for His help if you are having trouble in this area. Pray that He would show you if you are wrong in this area. Pray He would fill you overflowing with love and respect for your husband. Then CHOOSE to love him and respect him, no matter if you agree with him or not.
Blessings to you my dear friends,
Rashel
Revisited and linked up on February 10, 2014
