Ephesians 5:33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.Why does the Bible tell the wife to see to it that she respect her husband?
Maybe what happened in Genesis has something to do with it. Eve ate the fruit, and God said that she would always have the desire to rule over her husband. (Genesis 3:16)
When the wife is busy trying to lord over her husband she doesn't have respect. When she is has no respect, then she will dishonor him and God. There are no caveats in Scripture that say to respect our husbands if they deserve respect. We must respect the place where God has them which is as our husbands. If God had wanted you to rule over your husband, you would have been born a man. Instead, we are simply told to respect him.
The job of respecting my husband becomes easier when I understand what all of Ephesians five means. He has the great responsibility to love me as Christ loved the church, laying down his life for me. I know me, that's hard.
What does respect look like? Think of the person whose opinion you admire the most. How would you behave in front of them? Then that's how you behave about your husband -
all the time.
It's a heart issue, your own heart, not his. Of course, the task would be easier if he was perfect, but he isn't. So we look to Christ, and change our heart towards the one man that God called us to respect.
Practically, that means:
- every negative thought towards him must be changed to think on what is true and honorable (Philippians 4:8)
- every word is gracious, seasoned with salt (Colossians 4:6)
- every action does him good and not harm (Proverbs 31:11-12)
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