Ladies, our husbands need encouragement.

I was having a conversation with my best friend recently about our spouses. We both had questions and concerns. So, we did the best thing we could do, we prayed.

As we were praying, I began to thank God for creating men and women differently. I thanked Him for making men physically stronger than women, for making men the head of the households, the protectors, the providers, and the disciplinarian. Then I began to thank Him for creating women to be submissive to their husbands, for making us weaker physically, and for making us stronger in other areas than men are.

If our husbands are making decisions that we are not in agreement with, we need to be praying for them, not nagging them. We need to encourage them and let them know how much we appreciate all that they do for our marriage and homes. We are told in Ephesians 5:33 (AMP), "However, let each man of you [without exception] love his wife as [being in a sense] his very own self; and let the wife see that she respects and reverences her husband [that she notices him, regards him, honors him, prefers him, venerates, and esteems him; and that she defers to him, praises him, and loves and admires him exceedingly].” Nowhere in this verse does it say that we are to respect him only when he deserves or earns it.

If we will begin to recognize our husbands' strengths and not only point out their weaknesses, they will begin to feel better about themselves. When they feel better about themselves, we reap the benefits. This is an area that I must daily pray about for myself. My husband and I are different in areas of our lives and this can be a good thing or a trying matter. I do not want to mistreat my husband with my words, so I must pray for God to change me and help me to be an encouragement to him and not a hindrance. If we just point out the areas that we do not agree with, they will become defeated and stop doing anything to help us, so we need to praise them and encourage them in every area of their lives. As we pray and ask the Lord to change us and we allow those changes to happen, our husbands will begin to respond to the changes in us and they too will change.

Proverbs 31:10-12; Revelation 1:6 (KJV); Proverbs 21:1; Ephesians 5:33 (AMP)

 

Lori Lyn Skipper

Hi, Lori Lyn Skipper here! I'm happy to say I am 51 years young, married to my husband John. We have three grown children between the two of us. I have two boys and he has a daughter as well as a granddaughter.  My husband and I have been married two years this upcoming June. I live in Sunny Florida. I moved here in 2012. I often say I'm an IL girl living in a Fl world. I came to meet Jesus in mid-2016 but did not accept Him as my Lord and Savior until January 1997. Let me tell you, He's had His work cut out since I said yes to His call. I often envision God shaking His head at my antics, you know, how we do with our own children. I kind of resemble Paul, "the chief of sinners". Well, I used to be, now I'm no longer a sinner, I'm a saint saved by grace that sometimes still sins. A couple of my passions are to see people healed, delivered and set free by the power of Holy Spirit and the body walking in their gifts and calling of the Lord. Getting to be a part of that is so fun and such a blessing. Well, I'm going to end there and pick up where I left off some other time.