I’m excited to share a guest post from my sweet friend Sheila, who blogs over at Longings End. Sheila is a regular at our Wedded Wednesday linkup and today she’s hosting, so I can have a much-needed break! {Isn’t she sweet?!}

Sheila is the author of Heart Cry: 40 Reflections for a Woman’s Soul (2013) and has graciously offered to give away one copy of her new book! Check out the details below for more information on Sheila’s ministry, as well as how to enter our contest!

Honestly, I {Sheila} have been both.

And years ago, was I ever good at being a hindrance!

Words, attitudes and actions conveyed utter disrespect, a lack of love and a desire to control. Much was lost.

It has been a long and rocky road but God is faithful and will do what it takes to help me become Christ-like and learn 1 Corinthians 13 love. He will help you, too.

Here are six tips I gained along my journey that can help you become the sweet gift God intends you to be for your husband.

1.  Love God most of all …

Seek to understand the heart of God. Study the scriptures. Find a Titus 2 woman who will mentor you in the disciplines of a godly wife. Let your relationship with God be the most important one in your life and as you seek to please and honor Him you will become truly lovely and a greatly appreciated helpmeet.

2.  Pray without ceasing …

Praying for your husband every single day is vital. Pray for his relationship with God, friendships, emotions, thought-life, physical health, how he handles money, his relationship with the children, his career, dreams, and fears. Pray about everything, asking God to favor and help your husband. Being on your knees for your man will benefit you and the whole family.

3.  R-E-S-P-E-C-T him …

God designed men to crave respect. It’s their number one need, even more than sex. Showing your husband respect communicates love and trust. So watch your words, tone of voice, attitude, facial expressions and body language. Yet what governs all of the above is your heart—for out of it the mouth speaks. If your heart is rightly aligned with God then everything flows right from the fount of righteousness.

4.  No jackhammers allowed …

God gives a man a wife as a good gift. Her feminine perspective on life brings a new dimension to his outlook. When a wife has something she feels needs to be said that her husband may not immediately like to hear, she should pray first to be sure God wants her to speak. Given the go-ahead, she shares the message once and then moves on continuing to pray. God will drill down deep the truth a husband needs. As wives refrain from becoming verbal jackhammers a husband’s heart can soften making it easier for him to receive the message.

5.  Take care of your appearance …

Husbands are visually oriented. While you don’t need to be drop-dead gorgeous with a model figure to please your man, you should respect him enough to take good care of your body and physical appearance. Stemming from a heart of love and respect, a wife will offer her best self to her husband, saving elements of her most visually alluring appearance for his eyes only.

6.  Bless him behind closed doors …

Being your husband’s helpmeet includes being his playmate and sex is a beautiful gift that blesses partners in ways that only lovemaking can—bringing you closer, making you happier, boosting immunity, clearing your head and tethering hearts in a delightful, mysterious bond. God tells married couples to come together often except for times of mutually agreed upon prayer or fasting “lest the enemy gain a toehold.” And who wants to let the “foxes spoil the vineyard” when a marriage can be hedged in love.

 

Sheila offers C²: Comfort and Conversation for Women and with her husband provides life coaching for men, women and married couples. Her most fervent passion is seeing hearts healed through the power of God’s love and believes that all our longings end in love.

To enter to the giveaway of Sheila’s book, answer one of the following questions below or simply share with Sheila what has blessed you today with her wisdom.

The deadline for entering is Friday, March 14th by noon (CST). The winner will be announced here, updated on this post, and contacted via email. Be sure to register with your email when commenting, so that if you win, we can find you and get you the book!

 

What other tips would you add to this list—ways you’ve found helpful to building your husband up?

 

Which one of the tips Sheila has offered is what you need to work on most in your marriage?

 

Congrats to Shannon, the winner of our giveaway! And thank you to all of you who participated in the giveaway, as well as, a special “thank you” to Sheila who wrote such an amazing article for us and generously provided a book for our giveaway!

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Joining with  Works for Me Wednesday, Marriage, Motherhood and Missions,  To Love Honor and Vacuum, Whimsical Wednesday and Wholehearted Wednesday

Now it’s time  for Wedded Wednesday!

Grab our new button! I’ll be adding the code box soon, but until then “copy and paste” the image below into your posts.

WW rules:

Write in any way that is uplifting, helpful and spiritually encouraging to our lives, marriages and families.

1. Enter in a permalink directly to your “blog post” and not the main URL to your blog.
2. Be sure to include a link to “Wedded Wednesday” or add the WW button (old code is in MM’s footer) to your current blog post and/or sidebar.
3. Visit and comment on at least one other person’s blog that’s linked up here.
4. Please no offensive or inappropriate content or sexually explicit images!

Optional but encouraged:

1. Consider setting up your Gravatar profile and Disqus Profile with a link to your blog … it makes it so much easier for all of us to find those of you who blog!
2. If you have the time, visit those who visit your blog and comment at their place as well … sort of a “Say it forward.

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