Well, another Father’s Day in the books. And another stern talking to. Actually, not that bad. But a little bit there, nonetheless.
A favorite pastor of mine once observed that mothers get all of the good stuff on their day. They’re lavished, and praised, and sung to and about (“M” is for the million things she gave me…”). Given flowers. On Father’s Day, we get, “You’d better pick up your game, man.” I don’t really mind – I’ve come to look for it now and it’s kind of interesting. So, during yesterday’s church service, it was no surprise to hear the undertones of the same. And of course, someone has to throw in how wonderful all of our wives are for putting up with us.
And this struck a bit of a chord with me. I was like, “Hold on a minute. Mothers had their day. Why do they get the nod on mine?” And it got me thinking even further. I get the self-deprecating humor, but really, in a strong Christian marriage, there really should be no “putting up with” the other. Sure, there will be times of difficulty and disagreement, but what kind of man is going to stand there and be “put up with”? Even more so, what kind of man is going to do the kind of things that elicit that reaction?
The parties of a Christian marriage (any marriage for that matter) should compliment and support each other. They need each other. My wife doesn’t do the work I do. She can’t. Probably wouldn’t know where to start. And so she depends on me for that in some way. But I absolutely depend on her in all of the many things she does. She’s incredible at them. And sure, I make mistakes, and she has to be patient with me. But she makes mistakes too. So do we get to point them out on Mother’s Day? Is someone gonna get up there on Mother’s Day next and say , “God bless the mothers, and the husbands who have to put up with them.”?
I don’t think so…