Communicating Respect to Our Husbands

  "This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.  Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband."        Ephesians 5:32-33

Check out this list of 25 Ways to Communicate Respect to Your Husband.  


I feel the encouragement at this link is a bit incomplete.  Respect in marriage is more than a list of things to do.  Oh my...how many times have I seen women manipulated by lists like these! "If I do x,y and z, then he will love me."  Sadly, the church teaches this incomplete list and has caused countless women to stumble. 

RESPECT', verb transitive [Latin respecto, or respectus, from respicio; re and specio, to view.]  To view or consider with some degree of reverence; to esteem as possessed of real worth. ~Webster's 1828 Dictionary

Respect is a heart attitude that acknowledges the value of a person in the sight of God.  Now don't get me wrong!  The items on the list are all sound examples, in and of themselves, but respect also calls for accountability. I respect the person of my husband so much that I require him to tell me the truth and to treat me with kindness.  God would want no less from him! There are boundaries to be observed in love. If I do not respect him, I let him do whatever he wants.  If I do not respect him,  I don't actively participate in relationship and the potential result is that he falls into sin. 

Respect is more than submission and a to do list. Respect is active love for my husband and active reverence for God as he works in my husband.  My husband is God's beloved child! It is strength to recognize that fact and to treat him with care, gentle love and yet also require accountability in partnership, as we walk the narrow path towards Jesus. 

The action of respect is certainly the list, but it originates in a heart that reverences the Lord and is willing to be strong for Him. God calls us to submission, but He also calls us to be our husband's helpmate.  It takes respect to stand up and say, "No, you cannot treat me or others in this way."   We are to be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.  (Ephesians 5:21)  We must see too it that we respect our husbands enough to purpose ourselves to walk in the light of Jesus in our marriages. If we follow Jesus, we heed His call.  There will be times to remain quiet, but there will also be times to be bold. 

Grateful for the grace of Christ,