Likewise, Husbands

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matt 6:21

Gary Smalley wrote that a wife once confided that her greatest disappointment was to know that she was not the most important person in her husband's life. "Even our dog is more important to him," she complained. He comes home and plays with the dog and then expects dinner! A woman's sparkling affection toward her husband is diminished when he begins to prefer other people or activities over her. And this may occur unknowingly to him!

In a recent Washington Post article, a husband made this revelation when, after married for 18 years, his wife had pictures professionally taken. She insisted that the photographer remove every blemish on her. The story revealed something poignant in this couple's relationship. It is best told in the husband's words in a letter to the photographer.

"I don't want you to think that I am in any way upset with you," he wrote. "But. I have some food for thought that I would like to pass on. These pictures, though intended to `spice things up' are not my wife. When you took away her stretch marks, you took away the documentation of my children. When you took away her wrinkles, you took away our two decades of laughter and our worries. When you took away her cellulite, you took away her love of baking and all the goodies we have eaten over the years.

"I am actually writing to thank you, he continued. "Seeing these images made me realize that l honestly do not tell my wife enough how much I love her and admire her just as she is."

He concludes. "I have to do better." We all, as husbands. have to do better as well. There is a basic biblical principle found in I Peter 3.7 that must be the cornerstone of all relationships: "Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way. Showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered." Kevin