Bring Happiness To Your Wife - Deuteronomy 24:5

Deuteronomy 24:5

""When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war or be charged with any business; he shall ... bring happiness to his wife."

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We are home!  Kay was discharged yesterday afternoon and had a good rest of the day and evening at home.  It was Jake's 13th birthday on Sunday also and our good friends took him to play laser tag and brought a cake back to the house.  We are so blessed with our family and friends.

As we were sitting in the ER about midnight last night, I emailed our church youth director to let him know what was going on and to ask him for prayers.  He responded almost immediately with confirmation he was praying and then he reminded me to "Keep her encouraged".  This reminded me that in the midst of my stress and worrying, and decision-making, I needed to remember to care for the emotional needs of Kay also.  As husbands our responsibility is to love our wives as Christ loves the church.  That love is not primarily just showing affection, but is more being the leader and rock for her, caring for her, encouraging her, protecting her, and just in general building her up.

This verse talks specifically about bringing happiness to your wife.  All that we do in our relationship with our wife should be about making her happy, ensuring she feels loved, and making her confident and secure both physically and emotionally.  Wives need to *know* that they are loved, cared for, and secure.  If our wives do not feel these core love values, then we need to adjust our priorities and make it happen.  I know I fall short every day on this, but I also know that God is working in me to perfect me like Christ.  

So love and serve your wife today.  Tell her you love her, and then serve her unconditionally to show her that love.  I think if we all follow Christ's model we will be amazed at the difference in our personal happiness also.  As someone once said "Happy Wife, Happy Life!  :) 

...and don't forget to love God with all your heart, love others as He does, and use every minute for His will and to His glory!

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BTW, if you want to see a good model of how we are called to love our wives as Christ loved the Church, check out the movie "Fireproof".  You can watch it for free on Youtube here:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU1wvJXrTfc.  Or you can rent it from Amazon prime for free also here:  http://www.amazon.com/Fireproof/dp/B001OHS8BQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1366003450&sr=8-2&keywords=fireproof  Be careful though, it is powerful. :)