Why I Don’t Try to Be a Good Wife (and what I do instead)

You might be surprised to hear this woman doesn’t try to be a good wife (nor a dutiful wife!) These type of pursuits are just plain exhausting and absent of joy.

Now, I don’t know about you but I didn’t marry my husband so I could feel like I’m wrapped up in a straight jacket and suffocating in my self-imposed standards and expectations of being a wife. I married him because I wanted to have a relationship with him rather than a to-do list for wifehood.

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is:

For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Cor. 3:17 (NLT)

Trying to be someone other than who I really am is an exhausting endeavor. There is not one ounce of me that is ‘good’. And try as I might to be a good wife, sooner than later I will fail. If you’ve read about the Proverbs 31 Woman, then you might start to hyperventilate thinking you can’t measure up to her standards. Yep, I know exactly how you feel, girlfriend. That’s why I don’t seek to live up to her standards. This is something I learned real early on in my marriage.

So, one day I just stopped trying to be good. And let me tell you girlfriend, this pursuit (or lack thereof) has been quite freeing!

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Live a poured out life for Christ,

Jolene Engle