It’s “I Do” season. From beach weddings to barn weddings, gardens to wheat fields, chapel weddings to cathedral weddings, each will be different, yet all have the same goal. After saying “I Do” the couple will be pronounced Mr. and Mrs.
Many weddings I have attended in the past few years have used 1 Corinthians 13 as the wedding passage. Though this passage on love is great and does give a great challenge to the bride and groom, I miss hearing the passage written specifically for husbands and wives in Ephesians 5:21-33. In verse 33, God requires the husband to love his wife, but the wife is required to respect her husband. I can’t imagine a woman marrying a man she did not love, but many times after being married awhile the wife loses respect for her husband. I have seen this over and over, a wife being rude, disrespectful and humiliating her husband in public. Once this kind of behavior begins, the relationship will only continue to spiral downward. Loss of respect will become loss of love.
Proverbs 31:10 asks “A wife of noble character, who can find?”, and then it continues with the model. It says, “Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.” (Prov. 31:11.12) This passage continues with many more characteristics for the wife of noble character, but maybe we should start by bringing our husbands “good, not harm”.
This might be a good time to do a self-examination. If you’ve shown disrespect or have a disrespectful attitude for your husband, confess it to God. Ask him to show you how to respect your husband the way He wants you to. We cannot change our husbands; we can only change ourselves!
Young Bride, I encourage you to observe a Seasoned Bride who is still happily married. You will not find perfection, but I bet you will find a woman who shows respect to her husband.
Seasoned Bride, I encourage you to find a Young Bride to be an example and mentor to. By sharing from your personal experiences, the twists and turns of your marriage, and how God has changed you, you will be an encouragement to the Young Bride.
It’s time to pack for Niece’s Beach Wedding. I can’t wait to witness her “I Dos”!
Please leave a comment…How has a Seasoned Bride encouraged you?
homespun happenings 