Love Your Wife

Posted on March 9, 2010 
Filed Under Marriage, Spiritual Life

“Live with your wives in an understanding way…” I Peter 3:7

A good buddy of mine is a smooth operator.  He designed matching wedding rings, makes his wife photo collages; he’s “that guy” from the famous diamond campaign.  Recently, I suggested he should give the rest of us knuckleheads some lessons.

His wife piped up and said, “Do you know what my husband does?  Almost every night, he sits on the bathroom floor while I’m brushing my teeth and talks to me.  He tells me about his day.  He asks me about my day.  By the time we get to bed, he’s talked with me for at least an hour.”

The conversation immediately moved past good-natured ribbing.  I remembered that two years ago my friend had shared that their bed time routine was a point of contention in his marriage.  He got ready for bed much faster than his wife; couldn’t figure out what took her so long. Most of the time, he’d be asleep well before she was even out of the bathroom.  Frustrating.  Somewhere along the way, he set aside his pride and chose to recognize this as an opportunity to serve.  Sacrificing some sleep, he now sits on the floor while she brushes her teeth.  He connects with her; her life, her thoughts, her day.

I Peter 3:7 exhorts husbands to “live with your wives in an understanding way.”  What does that verse really mean?  What does that look like?  Poetry, pictures, and romance are nice, but Peter was probably talking about gifts of a different kind, like sacrifice and service.  He was probably talking about getting out of bed, sitting on the floor, and connecting with our brides.

Realizing my buddy had turned a struggle in his marriage into a strength made me more convinced he should be giving lessons. Then I wondered, who would be open to learning from him?  How many men are willing to get out of bed and sit on the bathroom floor to make their wife feel special?  Am I?  Are you?  If not, then don’t claim I Peter 3:7.  If you are, then get ready to do whatever it takes.

This is not about cookie-cutter solutions.  Prepare to serve and, over time, get ready for God to turn struggle in your marriage into strength.  But, be careful…sitting on the bathroom floor might change your bed time routine more than you think.

(With gratitude to my friend Trace, who shared this powerful example with me)

Comments

2 Responses to “Love Your Wife”

  1. Ryan on March 10th, 2010 1:04 pm

    Oh my gosh, I LOVED this, John! Thanks for writing and sharing. :) Will probably talk about it on the air this afternoon.

  2. seun on April 7th, 2010 11:34 am

    Wow,this was really awesome.thank you for sharing.just one of the many creative ways men can spend time with their wives and make her feel extremely important. God bless you.

Leave a Reply

Comments are moderated and will not appear on johnfullerblog.com until they've been approved. While we are eager to facilitate conversation by publishing most comments, we may withhold one from time to time if we deem it offensive, vulgar, overly personal, cynical, disrespectful, irrelevant, redundant or unnecessarily contentious.
Comments on John Fuller's blog may not refer specifically to any current electoral candidate, or any measure on a current ballot – at any level of local, state, or federal government. Focus on the Family is a non-profit 501(c)(3) entity, and therefore cannot take a position on specific votes. Nor can we display any such statements on our Web sites. Likewise, we cannot discuss here the personal viewpoints of people like Dr. Dobson or Jim Daly on political candidates or ballot measures. Any posts to this forum which violate these rules will be removed. There is an alternative venue for this type of discussion. Some activities of this nature are undertaken by Focus on the Family Action, a 501(c)(4) organization, and its media outlet, Citizenlink.
Finally, if you would like to contact our ministry directly, please feel free to do so from one of our FAQs.