"Be good wives to your husbands, responsive to their needs." (1Pet 3:1b, MSG)
The same is true about husbands towards their wife.
"The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife
to her husband." (1Cor 7:3, NIV2)
How often don’t we hear husbands or wives complain: “He (or she) doesn’t care
for me!”
Why?
Because their needs are not being met, and so they come to the conclusion that
they are not loved.
Every temperament has its own unique set of needs. For example, my mom needed to
receive gifts to know she was loved. Needless to say, she would show her love by
buying you something special. To me, however, a present is not nearly as special
as hearing my wife or my kids tell me they love me. To me this means everything.
My wife, on the other hand, isn't at all impressed by hearing the words, "I love
you". She says that talk is cheap, and you need to show your love by your
actions. She prefers that I do the dishes, for example, or go do groceries for
her.
Since every person has different needs, it is our assignment once we are married
to discover how to meet the needs of our spouse. As long as we do so, our
marriage will blossom. Truly, marriage is a living illustration of what
commitment means, and interestingly, it is the same commitment as when we follow
our Saviour with all our hearts. After all, we were created to love with pure
motives.
A couple of years ago, we visited Etretat, a lovely city in France on the North
Sea. Unfortunately we weren't the only ones who had heard about how quaint the
town was, and parking was a problem.
After driving around for what seemed an eternity, we found a parking lot with a
couple of free slots. We entered quickly before the spots could disappear. There
was an automatic gate at the entrance, complete with a mechanical arm. The arm
was down, and the only way into the parking lot was to take a ticket from the
machine that indicated our time of arrival.
My wife, who was the designated driver for the trip, was suffering from a torn
rotator cuff on her left side, and reaching out to take the ticket was nearly
impossible for her. Wanting to help, I stepped out of the car to take the
ticket. The barrier then lifted to admit our rented car, and I was happy because
I had been able to show my wife love. I had helped her. My smile quickly faded,
however, as the mechanical arm dropped straight onto the bridge of my nose,
driving my glasses into my skin. Needless to say, I was bleeding, and the entire
side of my face screamed out in pain.
After parking the car, my wife joined me."What happened?” she asked.
“The barrier didn’t like my touch, and it made certain that I would know about
it!”
“My poor honey!”
These words were like honey in my heart!
Caring for one another is what marriage is about.
By the way, can you get the ticket? For some reason I don’t feel like doing this
now!
Be careful though. That mechanical arm can be vicious!
Rob Chaffart
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
everyone to look towards Jesus as the source of all the solutions to our
problems. It contains a daily inspirational story, a Bible verse and encouraging
messages. HTML and plain text versions available.
The Nugget: Published three times a week, this newsletter features inspirational devotionals and mini-sermons dedicated to drawing mankind closer to each other and to Christ.