church

Wives Love Your Husbands Well

/ Regina Walker / 2 Comments

So, on April 10, 2013 I posted to husbands that they should love their wives well. (You can read that post here.) Now, I feel like I should write to my fellow wives.

 

Hi Fellow Wives.

 

We are not off the hook in the “love them well” challenge. I guess, for wives, it should be “respect them well.” But nonetheless, we are examples to our husbands just like they are to us. This isn’t a thought I’ve heard anywhere, and I don’t know if it’s 100% on the mark, but I think it might be at the very least, worth considering.

 

What if our husbands form an idea about the church, based on us and our behavior? What if our selfishness or selflessness causes our husband to develop his ideas of the church?

 

Don’t stop reading yet, let this thought sink in, please.

 

Would your husband think the church is selfless, willing to work long hours to serve people, feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, reaching the lost? Up before dawn, not resting until well past dark? Using resources wisely? Spending both time and money on those that are in need?

 

Or…

 

Would your husband think of the church as self-serving and indulgent? Spending time and resources to make itself comfortable, to be fashionable, to be comfortable? Sleeping in late, going to bed early, and forgetting the needs of even the closest members?

 

I am evaluating my own heart, attitude and actions right now. I want to make sure that I am serving more than I am consuming. I know that many things in this life are connected to many other things. Like Christ is to the church as a husband is to a wife. If that means that a wife is to a husband like the church is to Christ, I want to do my part as a wife and as part of the church to serve both my husband and Christ.

 

This is not so easy all of the time though – I get the “I wants” and the “gimmees” and there are times when I want what I want. I get tired, too. I’m human. In a perfect world, none of this would occur, but this isn’t a perfect world.

 

I think that in a healthy marriage though, we can serve diligently, and our spouse can also recognize and lend a hand when we become overwhelmed. So wives, I challenge you to respect your husbands well, serve them, be a light to them, and be health to their bones.

 

A few verses, all NIV84:

 

Prov. 12:4 A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones.

Prov. 14:1 The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.

 

Prov. 17:22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

 

Prov. 21:9 Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.

 

Hypocrite or Human?

/ Regina Walker / 1 Comment

As some of you may know, we are back in church. I am really thankful to have a place to worship with other believers, with my family, and a place that makes us feel welcome. During praise and worship one Sunday morning, I was looking around and thinking how amazing it is that so many different people, with so many different stories, have come together to worship God, under one roof.

And I wondered how many of the Christians around me had ever been called a hypocrite for one reason or another. I know I have felt like one at different times in my life. Heck, I’m nine months pregnant and I’m not married. Talk about something that made it hard to walk back into church. But I told a friend some years back, that was pregnant and not married, “The only difference between your sin and theirs, is we all know exactly which sin you committed.” It doesn’t mean anyone else is less guilty, or less of a sinner. It just means mine is obvious and can be judged that much easier.

Thankfully, we’ve not had anyone throwing stones. In fact, everyone has welcomed us with open arms, prayed with us, and helped us grow in our walk with God.

So, back to the hypocrite thing…I know that there is a huge gap between knowing what is right, and doing it. It’s pretty easy to know the right thing, and many “right” things are more or less easy. But some are not. Some are down right hard, feel impossible, and we fail. And as Christians, there are people looking at us, expecting us to not fail.

So, how many Christians have been considered hypocrites, when really, they are just human? Saved by grace, sinners just like me, that are trying. They know many of the right things, but sometimes struggle to do them. They aren’t truly looking down their nose at anyone. They can walk back into church each Sunday, not because they know they are perfect, but because they know that God has grace for their mistakes.

What do you think?