Do I do that?

We don't have cable TV, nor do we want it, but sometimes I do watch a few things on the internet. I saw something about Jon and Kate, Plus 8, which I have never really seen a full episode of, but I got to wondering what the first few episodes were like. So, I had a few minutes and pulled up the very first episode and watched about 20 minutes. I was kind of in shock and horrified. It was not how the kids act, how the parents parent, how the house looked, but my goodness, Kate treats her husband like a huge punching bag. She is rude, hateful, condescending, two-faced and just awful to her husband. Kate seems to be a very organized and in control person, but the way she goes about it is just astonishing to me. She never asks her husband to do things for her. She orders: "Do this..." or, "Do that...". Do it now, do it the way I want it, do it faster, or do it neater. If the poor man fails to do all of her bidding to meet all of her rigid expectations, she yells at him, berates him, belittles him and embarrasses him in public. They do very many on camera interviews together throughout the day and she even tells him what to say and how to say it. She is very concerned about what is said in front of others and how it is said and how she appears and how what her husband says appears to others. It is really just astounding to me, really.

It made me start thinking about how I treat my husband and how I act with him. MOMENT OF TRUTH: Watching this show for just 20 minutes convicted me to my core. I am much like the woman in this show. I like things to be very organized [not often is it like that way, however], I like to be in control, I like things to be done my way, because, well, it is the only way, right? Well, this is not the way we are to be as wives to our husbands. Since watching that episode, I have been eager to go back to God's Word and remind myself of the wife I am to be to my husband.

God's Word gives us much insight on this subject:

Ephesians 5:22-23: We, as wives, are called to submit to our husbands because to submit to our husbands is submission rendered to the Lord Himself.

I Corinthians 11: It is clear in this passage that God has called the husband to be the overseer of the wife and the family. This is to bring glory to God.

Proverbs 31: 10-31: We are all familiar with this passage explaining the beauty of the virtuous woman. She is a blessing to her husband. Verse 11, 12 and 23 speak mightily to me:
The heart of her husband safely trusts her. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life. Her husband is known at the gates,when he sits among the elders of the land.

So, the verses above speak about how we should be as a Godly wife, but what about how we SHOULD not be...the Bible is clear on that too. Here are some of the most frequently used verses that should warn women of their conduct with their husbands and within the family:

Proverbs 19:13b
…the contentions of a wife are a continual dripping

Proverbs 21:9
Better to dwell in the corner of a housetop,
Than in a house shared with a contentious woman.

Proverbs 21:19
Better to dwell in the wilderness,
Than in with a contentious and angry woman.

So, when I think about the "Jon and Kate Family", I don't know much about them except I do know that they are now divorced, or separated with that intention. I wonder how much of the wife's attitude towards her husband turned the husband away from her and the family [I don't know any of what is going on with them, or why they are not together anymore, so this is just a musing on my part). I know that when I act towards my husband in ways that are not glorifying to God, I don't draw my husband near to me, but instead, I push him away.

So, what should you do instead? Well, I think that bathing yourself in the Word of God is always a good start. I also like a website that goes through 31 Days of praying for your husband. You can find that list here:

http://www.reviveourhearts.com/articles/31-days-of-praying-for-your-husband/


I just want to encourage wives everywhere to love your husband, treat him well, build him up, support him and love him as you should.