The Ministry of Wifehood…are you putting it first?

What’s my calling in life?

It seems like I hear this question often amongst followers of Christ.

If you don’t happen to know what your calling is and you’re a wife, I’ll give you some help.

Your calling (and mine) is to be a wife who brings God glory. (And if you’re a single woman, it’s to bring God glory through your singleness.)

Simple, right?

What’s not so simple is getting sidetracked by everything else that comes our way…as God-honoring as it may be!

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Maybe you have a burning passion to reach the lost.  Great.  Keep first things first.  Don’t run off to minister to others if you’ve neglected your first ministry, which is wifehood.  I can’t say this enough because I see it happen all. the. time!

And, I’ve been there.  My wifehood journey has gotten sidetracked quite often.

I got sidetracked when I became a mom for the first time. It happens to all new mamas.

I got sidetracked again when I started homeschooling my boys.  It’s so simple to have the urgency of today as well as the demanding to-do lists crowding out our first ministry.

I got sidetracked when I led Bible studies at my old church.  The women needed me and many times my marriage when on auto-pilot.

I got sidetracked when I was trying to restore my body back to health for over a decade.  At some point, I realized my health was consuming my life.  Things needed to change because I didn’t want my relationships to suffer.

More times than I care to remember, the ministry here has pulled me in 50 million different directions.  And guess what? Time and time again, I got sidetracked from my first ministry, which is wifehood–not motherhood, not a career, nor outside ministry.

Through the power of God’s word, your view of wifehood can be transformed from ho-hum and lackluster, (if that’s where you’re at) to being something fulfilling, beautiful, and quite radical to our culture.  Your ministry of wifehood can change the world, starting with just one man, and then impacting your children, and then your circle of influence.

Do’s of Wifehood

• Embrace your first ministry.
• Be intentional to prioritize it and protect it.
• Keep regrouping and re-shifting your schedule as needed.
• Say no to others so you can say yes to wifehood.  You’ll appreciate the seeds you have sown into your marriage.

Don’t’s of Wifehood

• Other than being a woman who follows hard after Jesus, don’t put any other pursuit before wifehood.
• Don’t put another commitment on your plate unless you feel like your marriage is growing rather than growing stagnant.
• For the love of dark chocolate, don’t put your children before your marriage.  Our kiddos need to see mom and dad fully committed and loving on one another.  It provides them with a sense of security and it shows them what a Christ-centered marriage looks like.  Be the kind of wife who keeps her relationships in biblical order.

You and I made the choice to have wifehood as our calling when we said yes to our men, when we put on our beautiful wedding dress and walked down the aisle.  We made the choice to be wives, so let’s honor the Lord with our choice by living out the ministry of wifehood.

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.  Galatians 6:7

We can’t expect to have a thriving, vibrant, and God-honoring marriage when we don’t spend the time cultivating one.

So, what specifics can you add to my list of do’s and don’t’s of wifehood? Please share in the comments.

Live a poured out life for Christ,

Jolene