Devotion for March 21
By byFaith Staff

Let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband (Eph. 5:33).

Proverbs 31 describes a godly woman as one who brings honor and blessing to her husband. But a husband is not the only one who benefits from the respect of a godly wife? She benefits as well!  

No woman wants to be married to a man that she does not respect. So, the respect a wife offers her husband does not only benefit him. It provides the deep levels of marital fulfillment that her heart yearns for. The more a wife treasures her husband, the more satisfying and precious she will find their union.

Of course, this instruction seems unfair when a husband seems unworthy of respect – and one apostle even tell wives to “reverence” their husbands. None are worthy of that. So how can we accept these instructions?

The answer lies in understanding that respect for others depends as much on what is in our hearts as what is in their lives. Everyone has flaws that we cannot respect, and everyone has features we can choose to respect. From Scripture we learn that the more we respect the features we can, the less we see the flaws we cannot.  

Yes, it’s hard. But the grace God extends to you is the grace available to you to love another as you have been loved. Fulfilling marriages are built on mutual respect from mutual sinners. You have to respect the spouse you married to be married to a spouse you respect. 

Prayer:
Lord, thank you for my spouse! Help me to learn from your grace toward me so that I will love my spouse as you have loved me, and will respect as I wish to be respected. 

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