Loving Your Husband = R-E-S-P-E-C-T

 Oh how important it is that we RESPECT our husbands!  If we want to love our husbands well, we must respect them.  That is why I am starting here, with respect.  It is impossible to be in God's will as wives if we are not respecting our husbands. 

Ephesians 5:33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.  

We are commanded in scripture to respect our husbands.  This is going to involve a choice on our part.  We must make the choice to show respect to our husbands in good times and bad.  The key word here is choice.  You may ask, "What if my husband does not deserve my respect?" and you may have legitimate reasons why he doesn't.  The answer is, even in that case you must still respect your husband because of his position in the family.  God has made husbands the head of the home.  1 Corinthians 11:3  But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband and the head of Christ is God.  

Respecting our husbands involves our attitudes, facial expressions and tone of voice.  We must carefully respond to our husbands.  Proverbs 15:28  The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.  We are not the only ones instructed to respect our husbands.  Our children must also honor their fathers.  If we are disrespectful, sarcastic, or rude to our husbands our children may have the same attitude toward their fathers.  What a terrible consequence this is for the wife who belittles her husband. 

Here are 2 ways to become a wife that is respectful of her husband.  First, be thankful for your husband.  Set your mind on the things above (the things God desires) and be thankful for what you have instead of thinking about what you don't have.  Second, ask your husband to hold you accountable.  Ask you husband to point out each time you are being disrespectful to him.  We must not be rude, sarcastic, impatient, short, irritable.  1 Corinthians 13:5 ...love does not act unbecomingly.  We must not lecture our husbands or put them down.  Hormones, or being sick or tired is not an excuse.  This isn't easy but it is crucial to being a godly wife. Proverbs 12:4  "a wife who shames him is as rottenness to his bones".   Be careful of how you talk to your husband and about your husband. 

With God's enabling grace we can become wives with respectful attitudes toward our husbands.  Whatever our circumstances we can choose to show respect to our husbands.  For a man, love equals respect.  Respect is not something our husbands must first earn, it is something we choose to show them.  Respecting our husbands is important to God and therefore must be important to us.  How hard are you willing to work at showing biblical respect to your husband?  I've got a lot of work to do!

• Homework:  Look up these verses and underline them in your bible or write them on index cards. Spend some time praying asking God to help you to become a wife who respects her husband. 

Ephesians 5:33
1 Corinthians 11:3
Proverbs 31:23
Colossians 4:6
Galatians 6:1