Day 15: Love is honorable

DARE: Chose a way to show honor and respect to your spouse that is above your normal routine. It may be holding the door for her. It might be putting his clothes away for him. It my be the way you listen and speak in your communication. Show your mate that he or she is highly esteemed in your eyes.

Today's verse: I Pet 3:7, Live with your wives in an understanding way....and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life.

Today's lesson is about showing honor. This is something that I have neglected to show Cory for some time now. I'd like to blame it on my type "A" personality, but that's no excuse. I'm not the head of this household, and I shouldn't try to be...I can't be. God didn't design me to be, and as soon as I start dishonoring the position Cory has....things falls apart!

The word itself, HONOR, has such a powerful meaning. It means to respect and treat someone with great worth. The book lists the following things to show honor to your spouse, some of which I fail tremendously. Speak clean. Be courteous and polite. When they speak, LISTEN. When asks to do something, try to accommodate and do it out of respect if possible. Honoring your spouse means giving them full attention, not talking with one eye on the tv, or one eye on Naomi (for me). And finally, when making big decisions for your family, give each mate's voice and equal opinion and influence.

The book list another word that isn't often used with marriage. It is HOLY. Holiness comes from the basis of honor. To say that we should be be 'holy' to each other, doesn't mean we will be perfect. Holiness simply means we are set apart for a higher purpose. A person who is holy to you is a person who is sacred and holds a special place in your heart, that NO ONE can take. Hence the word 'holy matrimony'. So, it seems to me that I haven't been putting Cory in that sacred place. I forgotten how sacred he was to me. How God sent him to me, when I least deserved it, and gave me a honorable man, who has loved me through it all. And I know, no matter what mistakes I have ever made, I know without a shadow of a doubt, he regards me as holy. In that sacred place of his heart, because he has stuck by me. Because he loves me. Because I'm SACRED to HIM! Real love honors when rejected. Real love treats its beloved as special and when they get that ungrateful attitude in return...and my oh my, Cory has gotten that from me day by day!

Dear God, I'm so broken. I'm so sorry for not protecting that holy spot you placed in my heart for my loving husband. I'm so sorry i didn't respect you or him.

So this is the real love dare: "Of all the relationships I have, I will value mine and Cory's the most. Of all the things I am willing to sacrifice, I will sacrifice the most for him. With all his failures (which aren't many), sins, faults and mistakes - past and present - I still chose to honor you. I still chose to love you! I still choose to be your wife...and that we never change from this day forward!"

This love dare is not about the dare any more for me. It is about understanding how God wants my marriage to be!