Good thoughts at All Things Bright and Beautiful:

This is just a glimpse of the story of the man, William Wilberforce, who fought against slavery in England – a fight that took his entire political career, and much of his health and wellness.

Which is reason enough to follow the link. But then this:

Can a wife ever be her husband’s mission? I know this probably sounds laughable 🙂 but trust me, I’ve seen many people write in such a way that you would believe that a wife IS supposed to be her husband’s sole purpose and mission to make happy in life.

No. A woman can never be a man’s mission. But it is surprising how often we see that in real life and in books or movies, and much to that man’s detriment. Instead, it’s normal to see throughout history, examples where instead of like Wilberforce’s wife where she is able to support and ignite his passion again for his mission, we see women who derail, ridicule, or even despise her husband’s mission in life.

I worked with a man who had a wife like this. Even though he was accomplished, smart, making good money and doing research that was his passion and mission in life, his wife would actually ridicule it at home and despised his purpose doing it. She even refused to come to a public ceremony where he won an award for his research! Again, history is rampant with wives like this though, so it’s not an uncommon thing to find women who have no appreciation for their husband’s passions and desires in life.

We would be rightly disgusted with a man who said to his wife, “I would love you more if you [did such and so].” Yet the culture embraces the wife who says, “I will only respect you if you [do such and so].” There is nothing in scripture to suggest unconditional respect for our spouse is any less of a Christian mandate than unconditional love. The only possible explanation is intentional mis-reading of what love and respect actually mean in practice to satisfy the self.

db