Have you ever realised that sometimes we give men a really hard time? We expect them to be tough and manly, good providers and protectors. We want them to be MEN, then when they don't do things like us we get frustrated and annoyed with them!
I said something to someone at church today about my husband and later I think the Holy Spirit prodded me that my words were not edifying. Something I said in jest was, when I thought about it, a put down. Too often women say things about guys like "they can't help it they're men, I had to do it because I couldn't expect him to do it properly" We lump them in a bucket like they're all useless at everything. None of us are good at everything, why are we so hard on the ones we love?
My husband is a loving, caring husband, a wonderful, fun dad, a hard worker, a faithful prayer, a giver, kind hearted, passionate and good provider. Do I think about these things everyday? I do think of them but unfortunately no, I think about how while I was out and he was looking after the kids the house got messy, when he made me toast he didn't do it the way I like it, how he left his clothes on the floor. If a Proverbs 31 woman "husband trusts her without reserve, and never has reason to regret it" I have a way to go. "Never spiteful, she treats him generously all her life long."
A great verse from the Bible is Ephesians 4:29 "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen" NIV. The Message Bible puts it "Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift". I read a book years ago by Florence Littauer called "Silver Boxes", it was on this passage and how our words should be a gift. If something I said as a joke made someone think less of my husband, that would devastate me.
If we speak with love TO and ABOUT the men in our lives, perhaps they'll start to become the men we want them to be.
