Marriage: Respect

So I am the "newlywed" of the bunch & during our ceremony I basically stood their in awe at what was being said during MY ceremony.

I had never thought anything sounded more beautiful & perfect at any other wedding I had been to. Of course it being my own I may be a little one sided..

We flew to Mexico to have our ceremony & reception. Of course it was not "legal" but as a commitment to God & my husband, it was more real to me than what I could ever imagine.

My husband made the decision he wanted a longtime friend, Adam, now a pastor, to marry us. I didn't know Adam but of course if Chris wanted him to marry us, I did too. 

I had been around Adam once or twice before, but when he got to Mexico I immediately liked him. We ate lunch one day together to "plan" the ceremony & how I wanted it to go.

He brought the idea to me of "challenges" he wanted to give me as wife, Chris as a husband, us as a couple, & our family & friends as witnesses. 

I thought to myself, challenges.. Sounds challenging. But why not!! He didn't tell me what the challenges were beforehand & boy was I glad he didn't. When I heard them for the first time, like I said.. I was in awe.

This week I am going to start by challenging the girls - as wives. 

Respect.

You hear this word everywhere, but the most important form of respect is told to us by God Himself. This word in itself is an extreme challenge. A challenge that I somewhat battle with & Chris will be here firsthand to tell you, it's true. I try my best to respect Chris & his wishes, his demands, his wants, his needs.. As all of us wives do, we try but after awhile sometimes we just throw up our hands & say I AM DONE. I want to do it THIS way & TOUGH. We've all been there. I know you have.

But as a Godly Woman - that is NOT how I want to portray myself. I want to live the way God wants me to live. And most importantly He wants to respect who He has chosen to be my husband.

Adam stated these words at our ceremony - Tiffany: Respect Chris - you have a unique voice to encourage, build up, and strengthen! Ask any married man in here, that when his wife gives him a bit of encouragement the man feels like he can do anything! So use your unique voice to respect Chris inside your marriage. Most men need more encouraging in their lives, so let your marriage be strengthened by your words to Him. Speak well of Chris around your friends and family don't allow yourself to tear down your husband for a quick laugh or propping up of yourself. When you speak well of your husband to others you can honor and respect him without him even knowing it! 

Now - who wants to sit back & say WOW? Because I know after rereading that I sit here & I am instantly back at the ceremony listening to it for the very first time being like HE NAILED IT!!

Ephesians 5:33b -- And the wife must respect her husband. 

1 Peter 3:1 -- Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the Word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives.

Proverbs 25:24 -- Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife. 

I challenge you this week to take 1 of these 4 verses OR ALL 4, write them on a notecard & carry them around with you wherever you go. Bite your tongue, fill your mouth with His Word & full out respect your husbands this week. Even if you don't agree, go out on a limb & do it his way all week long. 
 
Next week I will be talking about being a wife & forgiving.