Lesson 5 - A Spring of Goodness / The How-To’s of Beauty "How can you live out a lifelong ministry of refreshment to your husband? 1. Beware the enemies of goodness!—“She does her husband good and not evil all the days of her life” (Proverbs 31:12). Imagine “good” and “evil” in the same verse! These are such sharply contrasting behaviors—the one so desirable and the other so dreadful. Obviously the possibility of a wife doing her husband evil is a reality or God wouldn’t mention it. In fact, the Bible itself offers plenty of examples. Scan this list of women who failed to be a spring of goodness for their husbands. • Eve, created to be a helper for Adam, invited him to join her in her sin (Genesis 2:18 and 3:6). • Solomon’s wives drew his heart away from God (1 Kings 11:4). • Jezebel stirred up her husband Ahab to commit acts of abominable wickedness (1 Kings 21:25). • Job’s wife counseled him to “curse God and die” (Job 2:9). • Rebekah willfully deceived her husband Isaac (Genesis 27). • Michal despised her husband David (2 Samuel 6:16). What are some heart-issues that could cause such chaos in a marriage? First of all, a tendency to compare leads us down a dark path (2 Corinthians 10:12). I know how easy it is to compare my husband, my life, my marriage, my financial condition (the list can go on!) to other people. Comparisons—as well as expectations, dreams, and fantasies (all of which come with disappointment guaranteed!)—can quickly change my heart that should be focused on God’s personal plan for my life . . . with my husband . . . in my God-ordained circumstances . . . as I travel on my God-appointed mission of goodness. Why not pause right here and thank God for your husband and for the path He has put you on? While you pray, make the commitment to tend to your tendency to compare! At the same time, decide to do a better job praising your husband and thanking him for contributing to your welfare. Nurturing a growing root of bitterness is another sure way to foster evil rather than good. Allowing bitterness to even begin to take root—bitterness toward our husband or our circumstances—causes trouble and ultimately defiles other people, especially those closest to us, especially our husband and our children (see Hebrews 12:15). So once again turn to God in prayer and thank Him for every detail of your life. Gratitude that has us looking to God—not our husband or our circumstances—is the weapon with which you and I can do battle against any budding bitterness. Try it. You’ll find that you simply cannot be thankful and bitter at the same time! Finally, watch out for a sagging spiritual condition. Problems in a marriage may point to problems in the spiritual life. Staying close to God—by reading His Word, by praying, and by walking in His grace—fills our hearts and makes them the spring of goodness we desire them to be. The following prayer focuses on the vital link between living close to God and lavishing goodness on our precious husbands. (Only the gender has been changed!) That I may come near to my husband, draw me nearer to Thee than to him. That I may know my husband, make me to know Thee more than him. That I may love my husband with the perfect love of a perfectly whole heart, cause me to love Thee more than him and most of all. That nothing may be between me and my husband, be Thou between us, every moment. That we may be constantly together, draw us into separate loneliness with Thyself. And when we meet breast to breast, O God, let it be upon Thine own. Please make this prayer your own. Allow God to fill your heart with His great love until it is filled to overflowing as a spring of goodness right into your husband’s life. I invite you to pray this prayer and pray it often!"
Posted on: Thu, 11 Jul 2013 02:32:27 +0000
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