Wednesday, February 04, 2009

How Servant Wives Show Leadership in the Home


What does a godly marriage look like? According to the Bible, it is a marriage characterized by God-directed male leadership and God-directed servanthood from the wife. So, men you should lead your wives to make them all that they can be in God's plan. Wives, however, you too can serve your husbands in such a way that you make them more than they would have ever been on their own. I'd like to illustrate this with some quotes this morning. One from the Bible, one from Spurgeon, and one from, of all people, Stephen King.

What a blessing is a good wife! you women, who would lnot be in your right place if you began to preach in the streets, you can make your husbands happy and comfortable when they come home, and that will make them preach all the better! Some of you can even help in another way if you are prudent and gentle. You can tenderly hint that your spouse was a little out of line in certain small matters, and he may take your hint, and put himself right.
- C.H. Spurgeon, The Soul Winner


My wife made a crucial difference during those two years I spent teaching at Hampden (and waching sheets at New Franklin Laundry during the summer vacation). If she had suggested that the time I spent writing stories on the front porch of our rented house on Pond Street or in the laundry room of our rented trailer on Klatt Road in Hermon was wasted time, I think a lot of the heart would have gone out of me. Tabby never voiced a single doubt, however. Her support was a constant, one of the few good things I could take as a given. And whenever I see a first novel dedicated to a wife (or a husband), I smile and think, there's someone who knows. Writing is a lonely job. Having someone who believes in you makes a lot of difference. They don't have to make speeches. Just believing is usually enough.
- Stephen King, On Writing


Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives--when they see your respectful and pure conduct. Do not let your adorning be external--the braiding of hair, the wearing of gold, or the putting on of clothint--but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the
imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.

- 1 Peter 3:1-4


Ladies, you of all people can lead your husbands to greater things. It may be to success in winning souls, to success in careers, or even to faith in God, but it will be done with a gentle and supportive spirit. Whether you know it or not, you husband needs and craves your attention and your admiration. Husbands need to know that their wives beleive in them.

Wives, support your husbands verbally, actively, and publicly. Whether you know it or not, your admiration is more important than all of the accolades the world can provide.


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