It’s Sunday morning, and things are crazy. I’m rushing to feed little ones breakfast before church… whipping around in a furry picking up last minute toy-chaos from the night before.
I pop on the computer to do something “quick”… but it’s not working. Computers, a love – hate relationship. My husband calls from upstairs that I need to get in the shower… he did not want to be late again like last week.
I tell him I know, I know… just finishing up something quick.
He tells me a few more times, and my response is still the same. When I finally decide to get upstairs, he reminded me of something.
“How can you expect our kids to obey us right away if you are not respecting me in this area?”
I wanted to plead my case, and tell him all the reasons why I had every right to finish up what I was doing on my own time frame… but then I realized something… he was absolutely right.
I sucked up my pride and told him just that…
Our little ones watch our every move… and they are especially watching how Mommy and Daddy treat one another. Is Daddy loving on Mommy? Is Mommy respecting and submitting to Daddy?
It is all so very important…
EPHESIANS 5: 22-28: 22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing[a] her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
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Oh girl. That really hit me. As I was reading my thought was how dare he say that. If my hubby had told me that I probably start screaming at him. Maybe stomp off and slam the door in his face. But, first off, our men are the head of the house and a little ‘constructive advice’ is good. He did it in a loving way and that is to be respected. Second, he is right. How can we expect our children to be loving, if we aren’t. How can we expect them to listen, if we don’t. Thank you so much for this and….ouch. 😉
@ Jenifer… I’d like to say I’m perfect in this area, but I’m not… still growing. There have been times where I have done just that… but by God’s grace, He is still working on my heart in the area of submission.
Submission is hardest when we want to plead our case… but what does God’s Word say?
Yes, it did help that he said it in a very nice way, but still made his point. It is hard to swallow our pride sometimes, but I did realize that our children our watching, and so is the Lord.
That is a great message. I hope a lot of people take something from it and apply it. I know I will sure keep it in mind. Thanks for sharing Traci!
thank you! such a great reminder that i needed to hear!
Wow, Traci! Just a sweet little story with huge impact. Our children, no matter their age, are always watching. I want them to see my loving and respecting their father at all time. Great encouragement!
Oh so true…I needed to be reminded of that! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Thank you! What a beautiful reminder!
oh, this is such a close-to-home word for me tonight. after dinner, my hubby and i had a tense convo (within earshot of our girl). sometimes in the moment, i can get so caught up (my pride, my emotions) that i don’t give thought to the fact that my kids are listening. 🙁 i HATE that!
thanks for this important reminder.
This really made me think. I’m glad you shared that story!
Ouch! A much needed reminder.
An awesome reminder Traci. Thanks for humbling yourself to share this. As the saying goes…the little things really are the big things. Blessings to you and yours! XO
Great post, Traci! So true!
Ouch indeed!
Great post Traci! And I hope my comment doesn’t wreak havoc, but I stand on both sides of the fence here. Yes, I agree that the husband should represent some kind leadership in the home, but it’s also important that children see equals. I left my first husband for over-powering authority that he wanted (demanded) to have in the home. I didn’t want my children to think it’s okay for a man to over-power a woman (being bossy, demanding, and ordering). And to make this a little more clear, there was physical violence involved. I wanted my children to know and learn equal love, not demanding love. I hope I’m making sense here….
It is so true that children learn by watching what we (parents) do.
I can’t fix my broken past, but I’m hoping my children (26, 21, and 17) learned one important thing from me….independence!
@ Angie,
I’m so sorry for your abusive relationship. That is never okay. I agree with you in the fact that we are equal in the eyes of God, we just have different roles within the family.
I think it is so important (if not just as much as the wife if not more) for the husband to show tenderness and love for the children’s mother. Absolutely! I think that is why I can respect and submit to my husband so much…
I prayed for a tender, discerning man, and that is what he is.
I’m sure you are an amazing Mama to raise such wonderful children!
God Bless, and thank you for commenting!
Love,
Traci @ Ordinary Inspirations
It’s amazing how cyber communication can just reach out and touch someone. Thank you so much Traci for your kind words and re-directional comment.
Wow! Amazing words, thank you for sharing this and being so transparent. Taking this lesson to heart today …
Blessings!
Wendy
Love these verses! They are so true and so important! 🙂 You are beautiful inside and out! Thanks for your sweet comment!
Great reminder. My flesh wants to say “that sounds like a father-child relationship” but I know that the husband should be the head of the household, he was just being a biblical leader. I Just started reading the book Love and Respect. We have never “arrived” in all the knowledge we can learn from the bible and how powerful what it does when you respect your husband and vice versa he LOVES you with all this heart!
Very good point, I too am often convicted of this same thought, thanks for the reminder. Thanks for stopping by my blog, thought I would come over and take a peek at yours, love all of your photos, they are stunning!