I read this devotional this morning that I got from Proverbs 31 Ministries. It really hit home because I had this type of opportunity last night to be selfless but I chose selfishness. Yesterday was a very busy day. I saw Todd in the morning before he left for work and various meetings he had outside of work. I think it was around 6:30 am when he left for the day and I knew that I would not see him much.

He had a school board meeting at 4:00 pm that lasted awhile and I had taken Evan to piano lessons at 6:00 pm and didn’t get home until 7:00 pm. I fixed dinner and left some out for Todd so he could eat in between his school board meeting and a church meeting he had at 7:00 pm. Even though we didn’t see each other he left a wonderful message on the answering machine while driving to his church meeting. He thanked me for the nice dinner and told both of us he missed us and loved us.

After his 7:00 meeting he called and said he was going to meet with some other people from church for awhile. He got home around 10:00 pm. I can say that I was bothered that these other people were taking him away from his family. That is the way I was looking at it. That was the selfish way I was looking at it. When he got home I wasn’t very welcoming. I wasn’t mean but just quiet. I realize now after reading this devotional that I was not really supporting Todd in the things he was doing yesterday. I was thinking more of myself and the fact that he wasn’t at home when I wanted him to be. It is frustrating sometimes because he is involved in a lot of things that take him away from being home. However, he deserves a wife who supports him and someone who is going to sew positive seeds in a marriage. I know I need to work on this. I do love my husband very much and am very glad that this devotional came my way today. Funny how that happens.

“”… for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap” Galatians 6:7(NAS)

Devotion:
My friend Amy really made an impression on me by one simple little thing she did recently for her husband. She had scheduled a hair appointment on the day Mike was off work. She didn’t tell him about the appointment; she just knew that he loves to be with his little girls and that he’d agree to be home while she went to her appointment.

The day before, however, Mike said he was planning to go golfing with a friend on his day off. Now here’s where she impressed me! She simply said, “Sounds great! Have fun!” She didn’t even mention the hair appointment!

She could have responded in so many different ways. She could have begrudgingly responded, “I have a hair appointment, but I’ll reschedule.” She could have dug in her heels and said, “No way. I already have plans, and I need you to watch the girls.” She could have complained about her lack of freedom, as she’s the mother to two little girls and her husband travels frequently.

But she didn’t. Instead she responded selflessly. With her gracious response to her husband, she lived out Philippians 2:3: “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves” (NAS).

As Amy sows into her marriage godly principles such as selflessness instead of selfishness, she’s reaping the blessings of a unified, intimate, and joyful marriage.

Let’s ask ourselves today: What attitudes and actions are we sowing into our own marriages? Here’s a few to consider: Respect or contempt? Thankfulness or complaining? Submission or rebellion? Gentleness or harshness? Patience or irritability? Forgiveness or unforgivness?

If we’re experiencing strife or distance in our marriages, we need to ask God to show us if we might be reaping what we’re sowing. God will reveal to us any attitudes or actions which grieve Him. Then we can confess them and replace them with obedience to God’s principles for us as wives.