“Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect . . .” (1Pet 3:7a, NIV2)

Many of us find ourselves working for people who show no respect to the work we are performing. They can be nice to us especially when they need a special favor; however, most of the time, we feel unappreciated and worse, we are criticized for no apparent reason. How does this make us feel like? Do we truly enjoy working in such conditions? Would we want to remain in such a job for life?

Why would it be any different with marriage? A marriage with no respect for one another will eventually fall apart. This is not love, it’s torture. Love respects and honors one another! (“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” (1Cor 13:4-7, NIV2))

Let me illustrate this with real-life examples.

It was our second morning in Erie Pennsylvania. My wife went into McDonalds for some Egg MacMuffins, just as she had done the day before. We had vouchers for breakfast from our hotel, and just as she had done the day before, she politely asked if she could substitute the meat for cheese.

“We don’t do substitutes with the vouchers!” The clerk rudely stated.

“But yesterday one of your employees substituted this for me,” explained my wife, in a very friendly tone of voice.

“She shouldn’t have done that!”

“But we’re vegetarian.”

“That’s not my problem!” Cried out the employee as she snatched the voucher from my wife’s hand.

Needless to say, she left without any food.

How would you have felt in such circumstances?

Later that same morning, we began to realize how dirty our brand-new car had become, so we headed for the carwash. As we were waiting in line for the wash, one of the employees came straight to us, her face distorted by contempt: “Get out of this line!” She demanded.

We didn’t understand why we had to get out of line, but one quick look at all the cars surrounding us on all sides, and we knew what she was ordering us to do was impossible. “Why?” My wife asked.

“Don’t you know that we cannot wash cars with a carrier on top? Get out of here, you’re holding up the line!”

How would this make you feel? A bit of friendliness would have made a world of difference!

The good news is that our next store was a Best Buy. I was potentially looking for a small camera that has HDR capabilities. The clerk went beyond the call of duty to find such a camera for us. She took the time to address our needs with perfect friendliness. I felt like royalty. We were important to her. Because she treated us with respect, it motivated us to go back to this establishment.

Is it any different with marriage? Why would we want to treat our spouses in the way we were treated at MacDonalds and the car wash? Wouldn’t it destroy our relationship?

“Honey could you cook my omelette with egg whites? “

“Who do you think I am, your maid service?”

Rob Chaffart

(To access the entire “Marriage Bliss” devotional series, please click here.)