A Good Husband

What does it really mean to be a good husband?

Though there are thousands of books that have been written on this subject, we probably all start at the same place...getting to know our wives. The good husband will do a few things really well, love and obey the Lord, lead his family in the right direction, and be an avid student of his wife.

The first is probably the most important of all. If we do not know our Creator well enough to obey His commands, we will not be able to lead our family or be a true student of our wives. God has laid out a plan for us as husbands. In Ephesians 5 it talks about a husband loving his wife...but it is really more than just loving a wife. God has commissioned us to create an environment for our wives in which God can most effectively use her spiritual gifts. If we are not able to do that, we are not obying the Lord's command to us husbands to love our wives.

Leading the family in the right direction requires the husband to be obedient to God's commands. It is imperative that the husband seek God's direction for the family each day. The wife really wants the husband to lead...and she needs to trust his leadership. If God is the head of the family, and the wife sees that, she will follow wherever the husband leads. This takes boldness, strength, and courage to do the right things all the time and take into consideration the family at each juncture along the path of life.

If a husband does not know his wife, there is no way he can create an environment in which she can be used by God for the purposes He created her to accomplish. What a tremendous opportunity God has given us to really partner with our wives; to help them make a significant impact on this world! Women can do a lot of things that us men do not like doing, or simply cannot do. It is important that we help them find and fulfill their purpose in life.

Being a good husband involves a lot of work and constant evaluation. It is important to continually be seeking the Lord and His desires for us (and our wives and families), to lead our family along the path God has for us, and to really study our wives; to know them intimately and provide a place in which God can use them most effectively.