Honesty
Overlooking
Perserverence
Excellence
HOPE has Come! God, incarnate Jesus. He is our Hope! As an imperfect wife, I cling to the hope that Christ offers. As our hope, Jesus brings help to our marriage.
The first thing hope can bring to our marriage relationship is honesty. As imperfect wives we must remember that we serve a perfectLord. The nature of our salvation means that we, after receiving Christ as our Lord and Savior, have now been given the Holy Spirit which lives inside of us. Exodus 34:6 says,
“And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, . . .;”
The Lord is abounding in truth. He is honest. Since we have the Holy Spirit living in us, Christ’s character should be our character.
So what does honesty look like? Honesty involves much more than being truthful, although it certainly encompasses that. Honesty carries the ideas of uprightness and fairness.
I don’t know about you but I can remember times in my marriage where my words to my husband were not fair — they weren’t upright or honest. In fact, my words and actions were downright rude and dishonest. Ephesians 4:14-15 reminds us as followers of Christ (and as wives, I might add) to grow up in Christ.
that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—
Paul admonishes us to not be caught up in deceitful plotting but rather to speak the truth in love, so that we may grow up in all things into Him who is the head, Christ.
Honesty is important.
It is a key ingredient to a Christ-honoring marriage. Honesty means the absence of manipulation. Honesty is the thread of our love. It must be woven in the pattern of our life and marriage. We reflect the glory of Jesus Christ when we live in uprightness. Did you know that you are the Lord’s delight when we live with honesty? Proverbs 12:22 says,
Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are his delight.
Do you deal truthfully with your husband? Exam the level of honesty in your life. It affects who you are to your husband in your marriage.
I know that as I focus on “hope” this Advent season I am doing a little inventory. The Lord has challenged me to do this in light of the Hope that He brings our marriages. The coming of our Hope, Jesus, made it worth the look. He became flesh and dwelt among us so we could live.
Really live.
We only get one life to bring Him glory. Give Him your marriage and allow His hope to breathe a breath of blessing over you and your husband. Ask God to help you live uprightly and in fairness with your beloved.
He’ll help you. Honest. He will.
Kim
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