My Best Friend

Titus 2:4 (NASB) tells the older women to "encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children."

Today is my 37th Anniversary. I married my best friend 37 years ago today. I was and am still "in love" with him. What has kept us going for 37 years, though, is the love that Titus 2:4 speaks about.

The Greek word for love in Titus 2:4 is phileo, which is brotherly love, often exhibited in close friendships. Paul isn't telling us women to love our husbands in a romantic or sexual way, although that is important. He is telling us to be friends with our husbands. Romantic or sexual love will fade over time. The cement that binds a marriage together is the friendship, the partnership, the sharing of experiences that through the years become so precious.

No one understands me the way Mark does. He knows when I'm down and discouraged. He knows when I'm excited and happy. He understands what I need, sometimes before I know it myself. I would like to believe I am the same way toward him. I can tell when he's excited about something and when he has been beaten down by the world. My job as his wife, his helpmeet, is to be here to encourage him, support him, share the good times and the bad, even give him a nudge in the right direction when it is called for.

My job is NOT, however, to be the boss, or to tell him what to do. I am his helper. I was created to help him in his work as God's servant. As such, I am to be supportive of him, encourage him, be honest with him. Even when I may not think his decisions are the best way to go about things, I am to support and encourage him. In all marriages, you must find the balance, of course. Learn when to tell him your honest opinion about something and when to just be quiet and listen. He needs to know that you are there for him, that you love him and will do whatever it takes to help him. Is this always easy? Of course not. But it is absolutely necessary to weather the bumps in the road that Satan is sure to throw your way.

We've had our share of bumps and we've weathered them together. Please don't misunderstand - things weren't always rosy, and they won't be for you either. Expect the hard times, the trying times and remember through them all, that this man you married is your best friend. He knows the worst about you and still loves you. Even our closest girlfriends don't know ALL the bad stuff. Thankfully!!

My advice to young women not yet married - marry your best friend! Build this lifelong relationship as husband and wife on a mutual friendship and allow God to guide you both in your relationship. And then enjoy the ride, the ups and downs, the sadness and the happiness, the mourning times and the joyful times!! Those difficult times will come, but together you can face them and know God is drawing you even closer together.