Build Up Your Spouse

exalting - Build Up Your Spouse

Edify one another. 1 Thessalonians 5:11

I didn’t realize how often I’d undermined David’s authority in the home until the evening we went out with some friends and I saw myself in another wife.

The husband had grounded their son and had already given him instructions on what he was and wasn’t allowed to do. The mother started to add to the father’s instructions with the father standing right there. In doing that, she conveyed the message, “Your father’s instructions weren’t sufficient, so here are the ones you’re to abide by.”

I was forced to look at the many times that I had interrupted David as he showed the kids how to set the table for dinner or how to help in the yard. I always seemed to need to put in my two cents, just sure that my husband didn’t know how things really needed to be done. I had to face the stark reality that I had neglected opportunities to exalt my husband but found plenty of things to criticize or complain about. I realized that David needed me to build him up and support his role as father rather than communicate disrespect.

This has meant biting my tongue rather than “correcting” something minor in David’s actions. It has meant giving David the freedom to do things differently than me and giving up some of my own perfectionism. It’s often been important to ask the Lord to give His wisdom to separate little things from big things. I have a tendency to make everything big, and my complaints and criticism don’t edify.

Building one another up is one of the important opportunities we have as married couples. Sometimes it’s words of gratitude and appreciation. Sometimes it’s love notes and special gifts of thanks. More often than not, it’s the little things that go the longest way in edifying.

How will you edify, support, and exalt your partner today?