Week 37
Some women don't like to admit it, but deep down this is true of almost all of them - their perception of how they feel about their outward beauty often defines how they feel about themselves. What a burden our females have. Some of that is pretty natural. A lot of it is culture.
What can we do about this? As husbands? As fathers? As husbands, it is super difficult to think we can do enough to help change this perception our wives have. What we CAN do is help them to see the areas of beauty that WE see. It won't be enough to say that real beauty is on the inside ("that is just something ugly people say" - Liar, Liar). Your wife needs to know that you know she is beautiful - no matter what season of life she is in. Unfortunately, the opinion of one man (even a husband) isn't good enough to give a woman the kind of confidence we hope she would have. But it certainly helps.
See her beauty in her looks...but in more than just HOW she looks. Beauty in her pregnancy. Beauty in her service. Beauty in her heart. Beauty in her laugh. Beauty in her smile.
If words of affirmation are her thing, this will go a LONG way. But even if they aren't her number one love language, every woman wants to feel beautiful and desired. In a culture filled with pressure on women, a marriage needs to be a safe place for a woman to feel beautiful and express that beauty to her husband. When she is teased, put down, or she catches you having a head turn toward a younger, thinner, more beautiful woman (even if it a quick look) - that does damage to her soul that is hard to undo. And this will lead her to holding back her beauty from you. That is devastating to a marriage.
What can we do about this? As husbands? As fathers? As husbands, it is super difficult to think we can do enough to help change this perception our wives have. What we CAN do is help them to see the areas of beauty that WE see. It won't be enough to say that real beauty is on the inside ("that is just something ugly people say" - Liar, Liar). Your wife needs to know that you know she is beautiful - no matter what season of life she is in. Unfortunately, the opinion of one man (even a husband) isn't good enough to give a woman the kind of confidence we hope she would have. But it certainly helps.
See her beauty in her looks...but in more than just HOW she looks. Beauty in her pregnancy. Beauty in her service. Beauty in her heart. Beauty in her laugh. Beauty in her smile.
If words of affirmation are her thing, this will go a LONG way. But even if they aren't her number one love language, every woman wants to feel beautiful and desired. In a culture filled with pressure on women, a marriage needs to be a safe place for a woman to feel beautiful and express that beauty to her husband. When she is teased, put down, or she catches you having a head turn toward a younger, thinner, more beautiful woman (even if it a quick look) - that does damage to her soul that is hard to undo. And this will lead her to holding back her beauty from you. That is devastating to a marriage.
