Honor

We spoke the other day of the man of integrity.   Us ladies know that behind every successful man, is a great wife.  And a great wife honors her husband.  Many of us are in marriages where this comes naturally - we look to our husband for protection, provision, wisdom, and strength.  And we do honor him.  But many of us struggle with this.  We look at the man we married and wonder how we could possibly honor him.  Perhaps he is not that man of integrity we desire.  So what do we do?

The world has a pretty clear answer.  We call our friends and complain - but only the friends who will agree with us and tell us what a jerk he is.  We post dishonoring comments on our Facebook page, and smile at all of the "lol's" we receive at our witty, condescending remarks.  We disconnect with him more and more each day, and justify it because of his actions.  And often and ultimately, we get a divorce.

The Lord has a much better - and much tougher answer.

"Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.  Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior."  (Ephesians 5: 21-23)

For some of you, this is a hard verse to swallow.  Let's look at what it is saying a little closer.  First of all, notice the first sentence - submit to one another.  As women, we do have a voice- an important voice- in our homes.  But ultimately there is a divine order to things which brings peace to chaos.   As the head of the household, men are called to a position of honor.  They are hardwired to need honor.  A Bible Study I went to this week brought new revelation to a familiar passage of Scripture.  It is in reference to when Jesus returned to his hometown to teach the Good News, and was dishonored by those who were closest to him.

"Jesus said to them, 'Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor.'  He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them." (Mark 6: 4-5).

The dishonor that Jesus - our Lord & Savior- received hindered his ability to perform miracles!  What does our dishonor do to our husbands?  What are we holding him back from achieving in his life?  That man of integrity is within him, and you have the power to bring it out of him by honoring him for the man you want him to be rather than the man he currently is.  

Ladies, please hear me - this is truth.  I have seen dishonor destroy marriages, and I have personally witnessed the resurrection of a marriage and a husband's soul through a wife swallowing her pride and honoring her husband when he least "deserved" it.  She did it for Christ.  And she did it for herself.  She took a chance and trusted God at his word.  It wasn't easy for her, but the victory she received was amazing.  The most important thing to a man is honor, and he will rise to the level of honor you give him.  Honor him, and you will change your lives.