Your Husband, Your Neighbor
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’;and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Luke 10:27 NIV
What does your husband have to do with your neighbor? By definition, He should be the closest to your heart! That’s all the more reason you should be loving your husband well.
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” Ephesians 5:31 NIV
It doesn’t get any closer than that! As Christians, we are to put our husbands only second to God. Plus, Valentine’s Day is upon us! So let’s examine how to love our husband’s well. It’s easy for “our other half” to be the ones who get most neglected.
Home Date Nights
There is no denying that date nights are awesome. I recommend at least once a month. But guess what–we don’t do that! Why? It’s not in our budget. At $10 an hour for babysitting, that is one expensive night out–especially if you want to go to dinner or do anything else that costs money! The expense is probably worth it, but we don’t have that much in our expendable budget. Family babysitters are a fantastic option, but we don’t have any of them around here either. Trading with friends works occasionally, but if you want to go out at night, it’s tricky. Kid’s have bedtimes! If they aren’t at home in their beds, or spending the night elsewhere, that really isn’t the best option either.
So what are a husband and wife to do? Home dates! TRAIN YOUR KIDS TO GO TO BED. I speak from experience. My husband worked strange hours when my kids were at their littlest. I would let them stay up a bit later so they could catch a glimpse of Dad or keep me company. Now I am still in the process of getting them to stay in bed at night. It’s not easy! But on date night, they are given extra strict instructions to stay there because it’s Mommy and Daddy time. Do they get that? No they don’t. But we are working on it. Some day they will. If they interrupt Mommy and Daddy’s date, we just say, “Back to bed.” Then we remind them of the consequences if they interrupt again. It’s not a perfect date situation, but it’s better than nothing!
How To Date at Home
A date isn’t really much of a date if we don’t spend time together. The number one rule is that we put our phones and computers down. Another suggestions…don’t just watch TV. If you are going to watch TV, at least make it a special movie night. The idea is to get the two of you connecting.
Other suggestions…
- Make a special meal or dessert together, then enjoy!
- Have some wine (or sparkling cider), candlelight, and conversation.
- Play a board or card game.
- Find a hobby you both enjoy. We have recently gotten into making soap!
There are lots of great sites that give date ideas for home. Check out my Marriage Pinterest board for inspiration.
Keep it Spicy!
Marriage should be fun. I have had the pleasure of hearing Jennifer Degler, popular Christian relationship counselor and coach, speak a few times. You may also know her as the author of No More Christian Nice Girl: When Just Being Nice–Instead of Good–Hurts You, Your Family, and Your Friends
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Don’t get caught up in the “married parents” routine of letting Valentine’s Day just slide by like any other. Make time for each other and God will bless your marriage! Your husband is worth it and so are you!
What do you do to keep your marriage a priority?
I really love this! It’s important to be the best parents we can be, but being great parents doesn’t mean forgetting that we’re also couples!
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as long as God is in the middle of the marriage…
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May I invite you to share at the DanceWithJesus linkup each Friday? This week it’s SusanBMead.com/relationship/. Just check blog each week
Bless someone else there with you words.
Thank you so much for this information. I will try to check it out this Friday!
We date at home ALL the time. It’s so much fun! And we don’t even have kids. But seriously, taking private time is so important, no matter where it is.
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We try to find ways to have alone time, but hubby’s schedule puts his bedtime before hers most nights. That makes things rough, but I’ve found that just giving him some one on one attention makes a huge difference.
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Love this! And you’re right- it’s perfect timing for Valentine’s Day. So incredibly important to prioritize marriage. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for stopping by!
We always try to make sure to spend some time each week together.
Our children have always went to bed at 7 pm. They are aloud to watch a movie or read until 8, then it’s lights out. Anytime after 7 is mommy and daddy time 🙂
That’s fantastic! I am going to try to stress the importance of this to my children when they are married themselves!
we do a lot of home date nights. we actually JUST had our first date night out in 2 years this past weekend. 🙂
I’m glad you got to go out. We go out about twice a year on average. I am trying to be more intentional with making the home dates special and more date-like!
When our kids see us show love to our spouse they will pattern us. So we have to set a very great example for them to follow
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I think the more we can apply the “one another” verses to our marriages, the stronger our marriages will be! “Be kind to one another,” “prefer one another in love,” “forgiving one another,” and many more, including the one you mentioned: “love one another.” Thanks for sharing this encouragement with us at Grace & Truth!
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We also do home dates and I think they are wonderful. I think as long as your are making each other a priority it doesn’t matter what you are doing.
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We love in home date night too! It’s expensive and the focus is on the relationship.
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Hi Tara,
It’s nice to see a wife write this way about her husband.
In Titus 2 wives are told to love their husbands, and the phrase “love their husbands” is one word in the Greek. According to Strong’s philandros (G5384 and G435) it’s a compound word using:
—G5384 (philos): “friend, to be friendly to one, wish him well.”
—G435 (aner), which occurs 215 times in Scripture, and 206 times it’s translated as “man” or “husband.”
It’s discussing the friendship – like you said – that wives should have with their husbands.
Good stuff!
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