Psalm 100 [NAS]

Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth. Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations.

We are to cheerfully worship God. Our motives are to be a matter of praise and joy as we look at His goodness, mercy and comfort. We serve a God who has provided everything we need for life, including our marriage.

Living with a fallen “knight in shining armor” can be a challenge. He may not have been the right one for us before marriage, but after marriage he is the right one.

*Success is not so much marrying one who makes you happy as escaping the many who could make you miserable.

Our attention is not to focus on “he isn’t the right one” or “he doesn’t make me happy,” but as wives, our attention is to focus on how we complete him. One way we do this is to happily attend social events with him. We need to be willing to attend his business and family events and to welcome his friends cheerfully. Our public libraries contain a plethora of books on the subject of making conversation. We can learn pieces of information that help us contribute to a meaningful conversation. We can write down a phrase or sentence to ask another person and put it in our pocket to look at in our time of need. It is possible to communicate effectively in a group of people we have just met.

1. When was the last time you reached out to his family? His friends? If you are weak in this area, ask him to forgive you. No dialogue.

2. Send his mother or close relative a “thinking of you” note…not lengthy, just kind.

3. Ask him how you can be more hospitable in this area. Tell him again, “I love you.”

Marriage is “Joy unspeakable and full of glory.” Nahum 1:7 God is good!

Psalm 99:9 [NAS]

Exalt the LORD our God and worship at His holy hill, for holy is the LORD our God.

God is in control. We have cause to tremble, but He waits to be gracious. We exalt the Lord with our lips, but we give Him the throne in our heart. While we worship Him upon His mercy-seat, let us never forget that He is holy.

We recognize He will have His way with us and is using our husband in our marriage to refine us as pure gold.

We are each very different as wives. We cannot compare ourselves to another except to learn from the older women as Titus 2 exhorts us to do. We each have a motto by which we live life. The “life must be fun” wife will be more interested in visiting with people and playing games than cleaning house or doing laundry. The “just get it done” wife needs to be leading, accomplishing tasks, and telling others what to do rather than listening and encouraging others. The “if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right” wife has one way for everything and creates a perfect house where others don’t feel comfortable. The “I don’t care, whatever you want” wife drives others crazy trying to keep peace at all cost. We are each different. We married someone different than ourselves; however, we are called to complete. It is we wives who are called to “fit” into his ways, not our husband who is called to fit into our ways.

One of the ways we “fit” or complete our husband is to keep our house comfortable for him, in spite of our own “motto” by which we live life. Keeping our house a restful place for him to come home to may be that the house is clean and tidy. We can learn practical tips for housekeeping by learning good time management techniques, skills, how to be organized, and how to do tasks more efficiently.

Our husband has a “motto” by which he lives life, also. Some feel overwhelmed in a messy house, others need things a little more relaxed, some need a list of repairs around the house, and others like to sit and relax. As a student of our own husband, we can learn what makes him comfortable and practice it until we reach a good compromise which makes the both of us satisfied.

We exalt the Lord by having a kind attitude as we are learning to fit, and in all our ways we glorify Him (And whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17 NAS).

1. Take an inventory of how you keep the house. Is it for your satisfaction, for his, or for both of yours?

2. Would you be willing to ask him what he would like when he comes home? You may need to ask him to specify one or two things he likes so you won’t feel overwhelmed by his list.

3. Would you be willing to tell him you want to keep the home comfortable for him and that you will try? No dialogue. (Words are cheap – actions spell love).

4. However, he loves the words too, so with a smile tell him again, “I love you.”

Marriage is “Joy unspeakable and full of glory.” Nahum 1:7 God is good!