Love & Respect

i just want to thank esther for her contribution where she commented in one of my posts. an excerpt taken :-

“i hv seen many christian marriages fell apart. some women still sticked to their broken marriage but were undergoing undescribable pain. worth it?

failed marriage needs two hands to clap. it doesn’t happen overnight. n when that happens, both parties must be cool-headed enough to reflect upon their attitude towards each other. hwevr, many couples just couldn’t put their so-called dignity aside to admit that they play apart in this broken marriage.

i feel that one doesn’t really need to be a christian to know that marriage needs to work by both persons, with the foundation of simple love, trust & respect.”

yes, it’s true. a marriage that built with love & respect for each other will go a long way in the relationship. & yes, maybe i was looking at it in a christian context trying to paint more of a typical christian wife - the perfect wife. i just feel that we cannot run from the fact that as christian, God’s plan for all christian wives are suppose to live out being submissive to their husbands. of course there some radical feminism who will absolutely disagree and dismiss this idea of a typical traditional role of a wife. to them it’s a total mambo jumbo! they will fight with the men for equality. now, that is why theres always indifferences between husbands and wives & thus not being submissive to each other-in reverence to Christ. yes the husbands too! all this can fully work only if husband and wife are themselves submitted to God and trying to live life that is committed to Jesus Christ. only then the love and respect will come in full force. now, if you have too much pride, selfishness, unforgiving, unrepentence, do you think we can have love and respect?

without a doubt, the husband not only should love his wife but also to respect and honor her. he provides for her needs. support her emotionally by affirming her worth as a person. expresses his love by showing his appreciation. support her in her spiritual journey. now, how does a wife respect her husband? she acts and speaks to him with honor and deference. she speaks to him with love, no matter how much it hurts. again this boils down to humility. one of the most important virtues - christian or no christian. she should believe in him and expresses her faith in his capabilities instead of manipulating him in trying to mold him according to her preferences or ways. so, love and respect do come together. they are fundamental attitude in a marriage. “husband and wife are to love one another wth mutual affection and anticipate one another in showing honor” (Roman 12:10).

if a husband and wife relate to each other with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance, forgiveness and love, then they will have a good life-giving marital relationship. again, easier said than done. so what must we do? ask for His guidance. work on His strength - not ours. remember, it takes 3 to have a good marriage. husband, wife & God!

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 28th, 2007 at 10:08 pm and is filed under relationship. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.