Every Heart Restored by Stephen Arterburn

Author:Stephen Arterburn [Arterburn, Stephen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-55179-5
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2012-04-11T04:00:00+00:00

As my Christian sister, Brenda had a right and a duty to speak out truthfully (and even sharply) to me when I was still living in the futility of my thinking, darkened in my understanding and separated from full life in God because of my ignorance of normal Christianity.

And when it comes to your husband’s sexual sin, you have every right to stand up and help him win. To be a helpmate means that you will never allow your husband to drift to his lowest level. Instead, you’ll help him be great.

Now, it’s not always easy to help a man. Our egos can be maddening, and since you’ll rarely seem like a submissive wife while showing your husband his blind spots, he’ll likely object to your attitude on some trumped-up biblical grounds. I’ve done it myself. But you are not being godless—you are simply playing your other God-given role in his life.

It’s normal. Being iron sharpening iron is part of Christian friendship and fellowship, as the previous scripture (Ephesians 4:25) suggests. Like it or not, sometimes you’re required to encourage (and perhaps even force) your husband to consider a higher train of thought and behavior in your marriage, and when you do this, its okay. You are just doing your job.

Women often write, “My husband and I have this serious problem. Is there some way to bring it up to him so that I don’t irritate him? He doesn’t like it when I question him, and I don’t want to push him away.”

Can you sense how continual, quiet submission can destroy communication between spouses and allow us to drift to our lowest natural bents? If you only play “submitter” and never play your helper role, the laws of reaping and sowing will be suspended in your husband’s life and he’ll pay no price for his abnormal behavior.

What will God think? Don’t worry. God knows that husbands need to pay a stiff price sometimes, and so do husbands. Sometimes I need to be irritated, or I won’t listen. Sometimes I need to be pushed away, or I won’t see. I need my helper’s voice!

When Brenda stands up for her right to speak into my life, she’s actually standing up for me, though it rarely feels like it at the time. When she refuses to be still regarding my crushing behavior, is it an abdication of her call to submit to my authority? Heavens no! It is the proper discharge of her call to help me see and to lift me towards Christian greatness. It is a sign of her unconditional love for me.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.