Saturday, March 13, 2010

Fixing Your Husband

I had a conversation with a friend tonight.  We talked about how easy it is as wives to walk into the trap of trying to "fix" our husbands.  Why is that?  We addressed a couple..or three..reasons in our own lives.  You may come up with a few more.
1.  We're "one" and we want him to be a good reflection of us.  (Kind of sick, all spelled out there.  The truth is we're both to be a reflection of Christ.)
2.  Control.  (This whole curse-for-control issue is addressed in the Garden of Eden.  "...and you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you."  Genesis 3:16 NLT  And you do realize that whole curse-thing doesn't come into effect until marriage!)
3.  Pride or flesh...plain and simple.

So my thoughts turned to Proverbs 31.

This thought came to me....how is a woman's control of her husband addressed in Prov. 31?
It's not.
How is trying to "fix" your husband addressed in Prov. 31?
It's not.
How is the woman's attention focused on her husband in Prov. 31?
It's not.   (Taking the chapter as a whole, that is.) 
And yet this chapter is written as instruction to a young man in wife-selection...and written to us, as women, for edification. 

You'll want to read the whole chapter, but here are some verses that stood out to me about our relationship with our husbands.

Proverbs 31:11: The heart of her husband trusts in her confidently and relies on and believes in her securely, so that he has no lack of [honest] gain or need of [dishonest] spoil.

Proverbs 31:12 She comforts, encourages, and does him only good as long as there is life within her.

Proverbs 31:23 Her husband is known in the [city's] gates, when he sits among the elders of the land.

Proverbs 31:28-29 Her children rise up and call her blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied); and her husband boasts of and praises her, [saying], Many daughters have done virtuously, nobly, and well [with the strength of character that is steadfast in goodness], but you excel them all.

"Fixing" your husband is a trap.  I just can't think of one place in the Bible where I'm instructed to fix my husband.  In fact, it doesn't even sound like this man needs fixin'!
If I can't even fix myself, why do I think I can do any better with someone else?? But I think letting God fix me is a good place to start. 
Romans 12:1-2.

1 comment:

Lindsey said...

Great post! It always drives me nuts when older women say I've "trained" my husband well, or when someone jokingly says, "Well don't you have that man trained yet?!" I love the Amplified Bible's interpretation of Prov. 31. So beautiful.