This week we will focus on what may hinder us from having a close relationship with our husbands. I will admit I have played most if not all of these games during the course of our marriage, and it has cost us a lot. Too much which is why I am sharing them with you. Search within your own heart and marriage and find out if you are playing games too. . . instead opt to play the game of winning your husband's affection. . . a game that truly never gets old:)
Italic Commentary is written by: Nicole Stockton
1. "The Mommy Child Game" : This is self explanatory and I have seldom seen any marriage that was completely free of this. I think it is just our innate sense of how to care for others, or our need to be in control. . eek one of those two. Anyhow it is just not good and I love what the author of this book says, " In light of these blunt comments, we'd do well to remember that only children, not grown men, need mothers. A man needs a wife."
2. "The Spoiled Child- Sugar Daddy Game" : Love the title of this one:) and we must all admit that in our culture it is hard to not fall prey to this game. We see nothing but glamour and glitz all around and we decide that perhaps we would be happy with someone who provided for our every whim. . . only to discover that even if our husbands can afford to fulfill that role. . .we are still empty. Perhaps God designed us for bigger things (that have nothing to do with materials):). The more pressure we put on our husbands to provide the worse the outcome as the author notes, "Their demands can make their husbands feel more like bankers than life partners, and the husbands often work long insane hours out of fear that the loss of a regular paycheck could ultimately mean the loss of their families."
3. "The Holy Spirit- Wretched Sinner Game" : This one may sound familiar inside and outside of marriage. Sometimes it is hard to admit that you have the plank in the eye. . . and yet we often times tend to look for the small toothpick in someone else's. Pride, arrogance, and general sin can lead us down the path to point fingers and attempt to become the Holy Spirit to our husbands. Let us all just take a step back and realize we are in need of the Holy Spirit we do not need to imitate him. As the author notes, " As much as you may desire for your husband to be more committed to spiritual things, remember that there is only one God- one Father, one Savior, and one Holy Spirit and you're not him."
4. "The Patient-Psychotherapist Game": Uh oh we are not qualified are we?? Perhaps we are not but we deem ourselves able to handle any psychoanalysis that needs to take place or we seek our husbands to become our psychologists. Some problems are too big for us to handle and rather than attempt to handle them, we should instead seek a professional if that is needed. As the author notes, " But if you need therapy to overcome an ongoing issue that your husband isn't trained to handle, do yourself and your husband a favor and go to a therapist. Of course, the reverse is also true. If your husband has deep-seated issues he needs to work through, it's unrealistic to expect that you are the counselor he needs."
*All titles and quotes come from the book Every Woman's Marriage :by Shannon and Greg Ethridge
So now let us each take an open honest look at what we are doing in our marriage and seek the Lord for change and stop playing games, in order to become the wives our husbands need and the witnesses that Christ meant for us to be.
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