Practical Advice for a Married Woman

But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine... the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed" Titus 2:1,3-5

For some women this Scripture sounds ridiculous - I remember when I first came to know the Lord, someone told me that I should obey my husband no matter what. Well, my response did not put me in the category described above. But as I saw God's design and His plan, I came to realize that God gave women - in this case, married women, a very special privilege and responsibility.

We have an incredible amount of power as we can make or break our marriage with mere words.
The last sentence in this verse says, "That the word of God may not be blasphemed."

This means that our words carry a tremendous amount of weight. We should not be spending our time gossiping and tearing other women down. We should be spending our time looking for opportunities to encourage one another, especially younger women. If we claim to be Christians, our hearts should be in tune with the Lord's. We should walk humbly before him, lifting up our husbands for the tough responsibilities they have and we should be an example to the younger women who are watching us.

I hear a lot of women ridicule their husbands and it is heartbreaking. How we talk about our husbands will make or break our homes. The more we share the "lessor" qualities of our husbands, the more we will be discontent,and pretty soon, we can talk ourselves into just about anything; our "Prince Charming" has suddenly become "A good for nothing ______."

I speak from experience, do not be deceived by the devil. Do not give him a foothold into your marriage. He is the great deceiver - very cunning and subtle, sometimes you don't even realize you are a pawn in his nasty little game. It brings him great pleasure when he succeeds in destroying a marriage.

This verse is so practical - every part of God's word to us is. Whether Christian or not, adopting new attitudes and sharing the greater qualities of our husbands will resolve a lot of petty problems in our relationships and will help to stop serious issues from developing.

And most importantly, our marriage will not grow cold and we will be using our power in a positive way and maybe - just maybe, we will be a light for a struggling marriage.

(c) Teresa Ortiz