Spreading The Good News—about Your Spouse

Spreading the Good News—About Your Spouse

Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

Ephesians 4:29

“Your wife was bragging on you last week,” Marissa told me in the church foyer.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“We were having our usual Monday morning coffee together with a few other moms after we dropped off our kids at school,” Marissa continued, “and Leslie told all of us how you masterfully got your little boy to quit fussing about what he was wearing to school.”

“Oh, that’s right,” I remembered. “Jackson was really headstrong about wearing the same hooded sweatshirt every day for some reason, and Leslie was at her wits’ end.”

“Whatever you did,” Marissa said, “it impressed your wife. She was going on and on about you being a great dad. Way to go!”

Have you ever heard a secondhand compliment from your spouse like this? If so, you know just how much it can do for your spirit—and for your marriage. Knowing that your spouse is saying good things about you when you’re not around is almost as important as hearing these good things directly. In fact, in some ways, it makes even more of an impact. Why? Because it’s said without any assurance that you will ever even hear it.

In media circles this is called positive press or good press, and it typically requires the work of a top-notch publicity agent. Public figures pay significant sums to obtain such services to secure testimonial compliments. Why? Because good press always benefits a person’s public image. In the same way, “good press” can benefit your spouse’s personal image too. Few things can boost a man’s self-esteem more than hearing that his wife has been putting him in a positive light in front of others—and the principle works that way for women, too. When two people are doing that for each other mutually, they reap a double dose of love.

Don’t overlook an opportunity to serve as positive press for one another. Speaking lovingly of others pleases God, and it will do wonders for pleasing your spouse.

What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself.

—Abraham Lincoln