These two items are very important in a marriage. I don’t have to tell you that men and women are very different. There are more books than we can count about the subject. The most important of those books is the Bible. God knew we were going to face this challenge. He wrote a lot about it in His word.

In Ephesians 5:21-33, we see the marriage relationship compared to the relationship between Jesus and the church. God tells men they are to love their wives like Christ loved the church (v.25). What do women crave the most? Love. God also tells women that we are to respect our husbands (v.33). What do men crave? Respect. I guess God knows what He is talking about.

The important part of this love and respect issue is to remember our parts. As women we are called to respect our husbands. This does not make us inferior to them. We are equals. Respect equals love to a man. God gave that job to us wives. We need to do our best to do it.  In turn, God gave the job of showing love to their wives.  That is where their focus should be. If we are both doing our jobs, then we will both be fulfilled.

So the challenge for this week is to focus on your job and see how it effects your spouse. Take notice to how their attitude changes when they are getting what they need from you.