Day 23: 30-Day Husband Encouragement Challenge

"Let your speech always be with grace..." Col. 4:6a

"In all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works..." Titus 2:7a

Maybe it is the nature of human beings, or maybe it is the nature of wives, but we tend to focus on the negative features of those closest to us. We treat our spouses worse than we would treat a friend or an acquaintance. How many friends would we have if we were always nagging them about how they don't do enough or how they don't help us the way we think they should?

Why then do we treat the loves of our life, the men we have spoken vows to honor and love for a lifetime with any less honor and love. We turn blind eyes to the faults of our friends, we try to lift them up, to aide them as we may. But our own spouses, we do not follow this same code of love and care.

Today(and everyday), concentrate on your spouse's excellent qualities. Lift him up by praising those and be there to help him where he is lacking (for instance...if your dh is unorganized, then you help him by keeping schedules and paperwork together and easily accessible.)

Daniel desires to make his mark on the world, to help others, to spend time with his family. He prizes honesty, creativity, and people's desire to better themselves. He loves to travel and does what he can to make sure all of us get that opportunity whenever possible. He doesn't go out with the boys, spend endless hours watching sporting events, or otherwise try to find ways to spend time away with his family. Instead, it grieves him to be away from us.

No, he is not perfect. There are things I wish he did, that he does not, but that is not his fault. That is the fault of my own expectations. It is my goal to spend more time attending to his fabulous qualities just like I would any friend.