Eph 5:33B: “…and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.”
Ladies, let me start this devotional with my closing remarks: never disrespect your husband in public and never disrespect your husband in front of the children!
Ephesians 5:33B is the second half of a verse that is often quoted at weddings. The first part, Part A, speaks about love. And love is what everyone expects to be mentioned at a wedding. But Part A is for the man and Part B is for the woman. Parts A and B are Gods commands to the husband and the wife; and they are both very important. However, Part B is not always discussed.
Why not? Well, after all, weddings are all about love and flowers and lace; who cares about respect? However, the second part is important because it does not usually come to mind and it is not intuitive. Wives respect your husbands. Why doesn’t God tell women to love their husbands… because He doesn’t have to?
Women are wired to love. It is their nature. They love their husbands, their children, their home, their car, their jewelry… though not necessarily in that order. God doesn’t have to tell women to do what they will do naturally. He has to tell them to do what is most important, and like men, what is most important does not always come naturally: i.e. respect your husbands. Today 50% of all marriages fail; this is one of the reasons why.
I know, it sounds a little crazy; but ladies, that’s what men want and what they need. To them, emotional love is not such a big deal. Physical love yes, but emotional love no. Ask your man later: if he was in charge of an office or managing a sports team, would he want the people on the team to love him or to respect him? 99% of men will say they want the respect. They don’t care if they are not “loved” as long as they are respected and their decisions are honored. If you don’t trust me on this, then trust God; after all, He said it. So, don’t ever disrespect your man before others. And don’t ever disrespect your man before the children. If you remember this you will avoid a lot of hardship.
-Carlos