Thoughts!

I often read from The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace whenever I get a chance and find great reminders and encouragement from it. The biblical role of a wife is so contrary to what the world exalts today for a woman. Hollywood has influenced our thinking and the following is very opposite of what the world would tell us today. We see this even in our own Evangelical Christian world. I have been thinking of the following recently, in light of some recent happenings amongst close family members. It is quite lengthy but I wanted to type it out so all my friends might be encouraged to follow biblical model of love.

"As a counselor to women I frequently hear wives say, "I don't love my husband any more. We were in love at one time, but all that has changed." After we talk for a while, most of the time what she really means is, "Those romantic feelings I used to have are gone, never to return. Now what I feel is hurt, resentment, frustration, fear or love for someone else." A wife who no longer loves her husband creates a dilemma because Christians are to love others. Loving others is so important the Lord Jesus taught that the second greatest commandment is to "love your neighbor" (Matthew 22:39). Husbands are their wives closest neighbors! Thus, loving their husband is something that wives must choose to do!

Since most wives are "in love" with their husbands when they marry, what happens to that love? If you analyze each individual situation biblically, many would fall into of of three categories of sin that will destroy love: selfishness (I Corinthians 13:5), bitterness (I Corinthians 13:5), or fear (I John 4:18). Often, it is a combination. However, no matter what has happened and what she is feeling, God can work in her life and her husband's life and He can give them a love for each other that they never dreamed possible. God's love is righteous and unselfish. When godly love is expressed between husband and wife, they will often experience tender feelings and a "sweetness" between the two of them. Their biblical love can draw them together in a more lasting intimate bond than all of the intensity of their early days of infatuation put together. The bond of love between a husband and wife is special because of the "one flesh" intimacy that God has given them (Genesis 2:24). And even if her husband does not respond in love, it is a choice the wife must make because of Christ's command."