As promised, I'm back to talk a little with you about respecting our husbands.
Before I get into the actual meat of the matter, I'd like to post a self-assessment taken from The Excellent Wife, by Martha Peace. This is one of the most powerful books on being a godly wife that you will ever read. It is Scripture, through and through. Mrs. Peace does a wonderful job of illuminating Scripture and applying it to our marriages. I've lead a group of women through the book before and we enjoyed it immensely.
One woman in the group struggled greatly, believing that we were talking about being a doormat to our husbands. That couldn't be further from the truth!! While we are called by God to respect our husbands, we are also still to be strong women in our own right. It takes strength to follow this particular order, let me tell you!! Sometimes it's not easy and you have to dig down deep to be respectful, but it's worth it. I firmly believe however, that when you are doing your part (respecting him) and he is doing his part (loving you, which he will be even more motivated to do by your respect) that you can have a truly heavenly marriage.
And, please, before we start let me make perfectly clear that respecting my husband is not something I have mastered. I struggle and continue to learn and work on it. My point in this series is not to sit on my high horse and preach, but to encourage myself and anyone else who may be interested to work on this very important part of marriage. And so, without any further ado, on to the assessment.
** Do you speak to your husband in a condescending, "put down" manner? For example, "What's the matter with you?" "My dad would never have done that." "Can't you do anything right?" "I should have known better than to depend on you." "Don't be stupid." "Don't be ridiculous."



