Thursday, October 28, 2010

But You Excel Them All - Part 1

"[Her husband] praises her, saying, "Many daughters have done nobly, But you excel them all." Proverbs 31: 28-29

Yesterday a lie smacked me in the face when a man at Wal-mart explained to me that I needed to stop having kids.  Want to know how?  I just need to purchase my husband a nice HDTV to entertain him so that I didn't have to.

Wow.

At first I just brushed it off, then I started thinking about this man's heart, and it made me very sad.  You may wonder why such a thoughtless comment would bother me, so let me explain.  I desire to be a worthy woman, and I want my husband to think I excel above all other women.  This man at Wal-mart, however, no longer found joy in his bride, and six kids later, was happy to "entertain" himself with cable television.  Understand why I am sad yet?

I believe this is pretty typical of marriages in our country.  Husbands and wives are growing weary of one another, and they have stopped serving one another.  More than that, there is no longer a desire to serve one another.  I know I have only been married for six years, but I assure you there have been plenty of times when I have served out of obligation and not desire, or not served at all because I am selfish.  My problem is that more and more folks eventually just stop serving and slowly allow sin to enter their heart and marriage.

This man at the store clearly did not understand that it is not my desire to allow the scantily clad women on TV to entertain my husband; I want to! I want to be his desire as well.  Anything less than this scenario is sin, marriage-ending sin.  We are all selfish, I understand that, but it is not an excuse.  I once heard a pastor say that as Christian we can no longer say, "It's just my nature" because in Christ we are new creations.  We have no excuses if we are following Christ.

Where is your heart today?  What kind of things have you allowed into your home so that you do not have to fulfill your obligations as a Biblical woman and wife?

4 comments:

Jackie W. said...

*snort*
IF ONLY an HDTV would solve all our problems.

Was he a salesman ? Didn't realize Wal Mart had those. Thought they just had check out people.

Ashley said...

No, he was in line checking out in front of me. He apparently wished they'd stopped at four instead of having six kids themselves, and felt he needed to pass that information on to me.

Jonna said...

I enjoy your blogs, Ashley! Joshua and I were just talking last night how sad some marriages fall apart so easily. In the Army world, you see it a lot. There is a lot of selfishness within the community, and a lot of people needing Christ in their lives. Josh overheard some guys talking very poorly about their wives and how they would easily kick them to the curb if they did not let them go to a strip club. Josh came home and said how happy he was that we had Christ in our lives and we treasured our marriage. He was sad to see so many men talk badly about their wives and not care about their covenant relationship. I wish they all could read your blog! Thank you for your words!

Ashley said...

I don't think it's just the Army world; it's THE world. Bellevue has a large Air Force community because of the base in-town, but we have been so blessed by the families in our church who also serve in the AF. I pray that God continues to grow you and Josh as you wrap up this inaugural year of your own marriage. You can make an impact in your community by showing how blessed you and Josh are because you are faithful to God and each other!