"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places". *Ephesians 6:12
Do you ever wake up in the morning and you look at your husband and are just mad at him for no good reason? Seriously? Have you ever done this? This is not exactly how I would think the Lord would want us to start our day toward our husbands...but I've been totally guilty of this at times. I've woken up on the wrong side of bed and have been rude, short, disrespectful and plain mean to my poor husband because honestly I was entertaining thoughts about him that simply were NOT TRUE!
" For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ" *2 Cor 10:4-5
Sometimes crazy thoughts, divisive thoughts, terrible thoughts come to my mind toward my husband and I think to myself why in the world would I think that? Where is this coming from? Then if we aren't careful and entertain those thoughts, we will find that our attitude, words and behavior will follow suit and then we will treat our husbands with bitterness, rudeness, and essentially the way that we are choosing to see them in light of those evil thoughts. So, what do we do? One thing I learned years ago, but still need to practice daily is to ask myself this question, "Is what I am thinking true? Is it real?" Because the Lord invites us to hold everything against TRUTH...and our enemy wants to fill us with lies and deceit that will poison us toward our husbands. We are to be ONE with them, but how can we be when we allow ourselves to be divided against them because of LIES we've entertained...It's imperative to regularly take our thoughts captive and surrender them to Christ! Whenever thoughts come to mind that are destructive, cause doubt and discouragement...we need to ask the Lord to replace those thoughts with what is true, especially if it is going to affect our marriage. If there are thoughts that cause us anxiety, the Lord invites us to pray with thanksgiving and allow His peace to flood our hearts and minds in Him! Then He says, think about what is:
- True
- Honorable
- Just
- Pure
- Lovely
- Commendable
- Excellent
- Worthy of Praise
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things". *Phil 4:6-8
Surely, if we choose to take the thoughts that come to mind and filter them with this criteria, we might find that many a battle with our dear husbands, might cease to exist! Now, granted...we are only human and we will experience moments of conflict for real and true reasons, but we might save ourselves some very unnecessary grief and heartache if we will take thoughts captive and surrender them to Jesus, before we come to our husbands with our disgruntled attitudes.
The Lord has asked us to love, respect and submit to our husbands and in that we are to rejoice in what is true and to believe all things, which is characteristic of the well known Love Chapter... Below is the portion that tells us what love is..
"4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;[b] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."*1 Cor 13:4-7
In light of this portion of scripture...I have to ask myself...When these destructive thoughts cross my mind and I choose to entertain them, am I rejoicing in truth? Am I believing all things that are true of my husband?
To be honest the answers to both of these questions would be a resounding NO!
As a Christian wife, I want to love my husband the way the Lord wants, but part of loving him is to keep my heart and mind guarded. Therefore, when I am tempted to dwell on thoughts that trigger anxiety, insecurity, anger, fear and bitterness toward my husband...I pray that I will take these thoughts captive to Christ, that I will filter these thoughts in accordance with *Phil 4:6-8 and that I will choose to believe all things about my husband that are real and true in light of Christ!.
Dear Jesus, we need You to help us be the wives, helpmates and best friends to our husbands You want us to be. We ask that You would help us in the area of our thought life, so that we will be careful to filter our thoughts in the light of Your Holy Word! Lord God, bless our dear husbands and help us to remember that we are sinners saved by grace and the same forgiveness, grace and love we love to receive from You, that we should learn to extend to our lifelong mates. We thank You Lord for Your promise to help us and give us wisdom for every situation. We trust in You to lead us as we learn to love our husbands more and more each day. In Jesus Name. Amen.
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