THE POWER OF A LOVING HUSBAND

The Power of a Loving Husband

Even if I live to be very old, I will never be able to pay back my husband for his inexpressible kindness to me. I have often thought over the years that husbands have no idea what intense loyalty and deep love they reap from their wives when they sow goodness and mercy. How wonderful it would be if they all understood this.

My husband is a fix-it man and wherever we have lived, our home has been better when we left it than when we came. Some men spend their entire lives destroying what is whole and good-crushing and stomping out the last light of hope in the hearts of their wives. I have a husband that reaches down when something is broken and lovingly repairs it. Whether it is one of our children's toys or my own broken heart at times, Tom restores it in his own quiet way by giving his time and his full attention to the object in need of repair.

One of the most precious gifts Tom gives is understanding. A wife at times desperately needs someone to just listen and commiserate, especially when something can't be quickly fixed. Knowing that she has her husband's sympathy can be a healing balm in itself. What also can be said about a man who has never spoken an angry word to me? Every marriage has moments of frustration, but how do I put into words what it means to a wife to not have had angry and bitter accusations hurled at those moments?

It has been said that because of the oneness of God's union of marriage, each time a man mistreats his wife, he takes a hammer to his own head. Too many Christian husbands walk around today with marital headaches and yet they can't figure out why they are in pain. It all goes back to the simple word, kindness.

I want to tell you what a kind husband creates in the heart of his wife. He creates a loyalty that endures a lifetime. Such a husband checks the tongue of his own wife by the sheer power of love. What kind of a monster could lash out verbally at a husband who has done nothing but good to her all her days? The tongue I have struggled to conquer all my life falls into submission with Tom because respect is so firmly rooted in my heart for this husband that God gave me. In short, such men make it easy to obey God's commands. They make it a delight.

Lastly, my kind husband brings music. My husband literally is a musician and nothing will ever bring such joy to me as seeing him with his trumpet in an orchestra or standing by a powerful organ, with that soaring sound that lifts the hearts of all who hear it. But there's a kind of music such husbands bring to their wives that has the touch of eternity to it. A loving bridegroom is a picture of Christ. When our husbands love us as Christ loves us, we are given a foretaste of that great day when we will greet our heavenly Bridegroom at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Also, the music that swells in the heart of a wife who is truly loved is heard by her whole household. The offspring of such husbands are the blessed recipients of their father's love. There are generational consequences.

This Valentine's Day, discard the cheap and gauzy romantic notions spun by Hollywood, and seek after the self-giving love of our Savior. If you are a husband reading this, realize the power that you wield and use it wisely.

''How to handle a woman, mark me well, I will tell you sir!

The way to handle a woman,

Is to love her, simply love her,

Merely love her, love her,

Love her!

--King Arthur, from the musical Camelot

By Ingrid Schlueter Email: vcyproducer@aol.com Click here for bio and archived articles