This is one meaty Scripture…Beware! LOL!
A gracious and good woman wins honor for her husband, and violent men win riches but a woman who hates righteousness is a throne of dishonor for him. – Proverbs 11:16
The word gracious comes from the Hebrew word chen (khane) and means; pleasant, courteous, good-natured, tender, compassionate, kindness, and merciful.
On the flip side; unpleasant, ill-natured, haughty, cold, stiff, rude, curt, gruff, sullen, and mean.
I am sure every Christian wife has expressed at least one of the flip side actions towards her husband or others at one time or another. Unfortunately, we tend to have blinders on to our own behavior. I encourage you to do a self assessment. Seriously, take the time to pay attention to how YOU speak to and about your husband…We need to speak kind words to our husband and to others ABOUT our hubbie.
Keep a pleasant attitude in all circumstances. This is a tough one even if you have no husband to deal with! LOL!
Show mercy…even when it is seemingly “undeserved.” None of us really “deserve” mercy.
Manifest warmth, kindness, and tenderness in your actions, words, and thought life.
Think about these words…
Do we want to be…
Curt…or…tender?
Gruff…or…compassionate?
Mean cold, rude…or…kind, merciful and pleasant?
Honestly, what we should really ask ourselves is which of those groups of words would we want directed towards us?? THEN, maybe, we can gain some perspective. If we take God at His Word, and realize we will REAP what WE sow…maybe…just maybe, we would shut our traps once in awhile! LOL!
Finally, when we have a gracious heart and attitude, it brings honor to our husband…even if they do not deserve it in our minds. Most importantly, it will bring a smile to our Daddy’s face and blessings are sure to abound!
Let’s Pray;
Daddy God, thank You for Your Word and for the role that You have given me as a wife. Help me to be gracious and win honor for my husband. Help me to speak to him and about him in a way that brings glory to You. I want nothing more than to please YOU as a wife. Help me to be the wife that YOU designed me to be! Thank you! I love You! In Jesus Mighty Name, Amen.
Copyright © Lara Velez, Moms of Faith, All Rights Reserved
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Thank you for this devotional today. I have been struggling in this area for a while now. I’ve got to get it right. Thank you for this encouragement and reminder of how important it is.
Your word choices brought me up short: gruff, or compassionate? Curt or tender? Mean, or not, essentially! I’ve been really, really trying to change some of my responses, to change tone, to realize life doesn’t have to be a contest and you don’t always have to “win.” Thanks for the great reminder. I’m trying not to wake up in the middle of the night and think, “oooh, I wish I hadn’t done XYZ quite that way.” The book “Principled Centered Living” by the Rev. Dr. Sheldon E. Williams is a great resource for me, too.
This made me smile. It seems as though God always directs me to the right words of wisdom or encouragement right when I need them. This was a great reminder and morning wake up call since I woke up quite grumpy towards my Hubby. My favorite reminder in this writing is in your prayer. A christian wife is role we have been given and is truly a blessing from God. Instead of focusing on what my hubby needs to do for me, I need to better focus on what I can do better in my role as a Christian wife. ” If we take God at His Word, and realize we will REAP what WE sow” Great quote……Soooo True
I have been working on this lately. My hubby has been so down on life lately, a deadend stressful job (for us both) and being unsuccessful so far in trying to find a job that will cover both of our pay rates so I can be a SAHM again. It has made him grumpy and, frankly, abrasive and difficult to be around. I have found that the last couple of days that I have prayed over him and encouraged him with kindness, love and treated him with grace his attitude has changed. Its a struggle at times because I have a very defensive personality, you bite, I bite back harder so to say. I have been working on it from the inside out and changing my attitude towards Dave and my kids and have seen postive results in them and myself. This was a good one to read today! God Bless and as my hubby and I say “Give it UP!”
Thank you, ladies for commenting. It is an encouragement to me! :)
I needed to read this. Thanks so much for posting such useful info.
HMMMMM…..REALLY NEEDED THIS! THANKS
great encouragement! thank you for the word!
Really enjoy this site and this post had an impact on my heart. You said all of the right things that women need to hear.