A successful marriage is like an edifice that must be rebuilt everyday.
André Maurois

I took this photo in Venice and just missed the kiss that preceded this cheek squeeze.
Can you see the face of the young woman on the left of the couple.
Like me, she was amused at this man’s affection for his wife.
It made me wonder what kind of wife she was.
Was she a good wife?

She does him good, and not harm,
all the days of her life.
Provers 31:12

Like so many things in life, being a good wife comes down to motive.
Day by day and year by year motive makes all the difference in being a good wife, or not.

What comes to mind when you hear that phrase?
Can you describe a good wife’s relationship with her husband?
Think about what she does, how she speaks to him, how she responds to him.
You have a picture in your mind, now tell me WHY you think she does what she does, says the things she says, and responds the way she responds.

If she’s a good wife her motive is to do him good and not harm all throughout her life.
It’s the daily repetition of good that makes the Proverbs 31 Woman such a powerful example for us.
How can she keep it up day after day?
If you’ve read through the chapter you know the praise she receives from her husband.
Yesterday we saw that he has complete trust in her commitment to their marriage and to him personally.
He knows her worth.
He gets it.

Marriage isn’t a 50/50 partnership.
Thinking it is will lock you into score keeping mode.
And that never leads to happiness for either of you.
Instead focus on being a 100% wife.

Am I wrong?
I don’t think so.

Every wise woman builds her house: but the foolish tears it down with her own hands.
Proverbs 14:1

Are you prone to complaints and comparisons?
I want to challenge you to stop them and try it God’s way.
Do him good and not harm ~ every day.
Do it by faith.
Do it because it’s part of the vows you made.

If you’re reading this you’re probably invested in your marriage.
Sometimes we just get distracted by life, by kids, or by careers.
We get a little lazy or a little selfish and we forget to maintain, much less grow, our relationship with our husbands.
Men aren’t the only ones who sometimes take a spouse for granted.

I just discovered that a year ago I wrote about this same subject, but from a more personal perspective. I’ll include the link here so that I can find it again myself!!!
https://kellyjgrace.com/2012/08/12/what-does-it-take-to-be-a-good-wife/

I saw this list of 20 Simple Ways to Make Someone Happy.
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/20-simple-ways-make-someone-happy.html
My own choices:
1. Make eye contact.
8. Offer encouragement
10. Be mysterious
16. Make him laugh
17. Listen
19. Put him first
20. Speak kind words

Which ones do you think your husband would like best?