Having Generosity For My Husband

The scriptures resound with the concept of generosity. The poor widow put all the money she had into the temple treasury (Mark 12; Luke 21). The woman with the alabaster jar poured out all of its expensive contents on Jesus' head (Mark 14). Jesus gave His life for me! And yet I do not lean towards generosity. I lean towards stinginess, self-righteousness, and self-justification, especially in my marriage. The Spirit continually convicts me of this.

God gave me a wonderful gift in my husband. My husband is not perfect, but seeks to follow God, serve others, and serve me. I do not always keep this at the forefront of my mind, though. I do not always want to give, especially when I am tired. I find that roots of bitterness start to grow as I dwell on things I would like to happen that are not. I crave affections and attention and then push away when it does not happen like I want. These are not generous responses.

The widow gave all she had, and then had to rely on God. This was a generous response! As a wife, God has called me to give to my husband. Yes, I may grow tired and weary, but if I am following God, and living according to His will, will He not fill me with all good things? (2 Pet 1:3). His word says He will.

If I rely on God, can I not have generous, gracious responses to my husband? If I believe that my husband is following God (and I do), that should inform my interpretations of His behaviors. Yes, some things annoy me, but I am pretty sure my husband is not trying to annoy me. A generous response would be a generous interpretation of his motives, which in actually, is probably the most accurate interpretation.

I made a promise when I got married, to love my husband unconditionally, until death does us part. Sometimes that love hurts. It hurts my pride. It means I have to give, rather than get. The Psalmist says that a righteous man "keeps an oath even when it hurts," though (Ps 15:4). This is my calling.

Sometimes my husband wants my time. Sometimes he wants a listening ear. Sometimes I see that I could put off my own plans to better serve him. To do so is generous.

I have a long ways to grow in generosity. This is one of the many areas for growth God is revealing to me through my marriage. God has been so generous and gracious to me with the gospel and though I can never attain to God's perfection, I can keep reaching. May God's generosity overflow through me to my husband, and through our marriage to the world beyond. To God be the glory!