I know I’m supposed to believe all women but the scripture tells me that some people (including females) do not tell the truth and believing lies makes every bad situation worse. I mean, some women might even accuse a husband of sinning if he’s too dedicated to Christ.

“John, you jerk!! No Christian wife would ever say…”

Let me stop you right there and save you some embarrassment. Here’s a quote from Sheila Wray Gregoire. She is commenting on the marriage of Jim and Elisabeth Elliot:

“JUST BECAUSE A MAN SERVES CHRIST WELL DOES NOT MEAN THAT HE WOULD MAKE A GOOD HUSBAND OR THAT HE IS HONORABLE IN ROMANCE. I feel like, when Elisabeth looks back on her life with Jim, which was, after all, tragically short, she has to conclude that it was the model of what romance should look like because Jim was so good and godly in his missions. Because he was so sold out to Jesus, then whatever he did must therefore have been Jesus-filled. And therefore, if, in our flesh, we have problems with it, it must mean that we ourselves are not sold out enough for Jesus and we must reassess.

But what I have found is that men who seem “sold out for Jesus” often make the worst husbands, and are actually quite selfish and hurtful to those around them.”

I feel like, when Elisabeth looks back on her life with Jim, her commentary is more trustworthy than Sheila Gregoire’s. I just can’t shake the idea that perhaps Elisabeth Eliot’s own writings are a better representation of her perspective than the cynical musings of a self proclaimed marriage expert.

If your idea of a “good husband” is a man who prioritizes your feelings above everything else, then certainly the worst husband will be sold out to Jesus. Jim Elliot was martyred by a hostile tribe in Ecuador…talk about selfish!

Ladies, a husband who is sold out to anything OTHER than Jesus is an idolator. If you want to be his top priority; you are asking to be a false god.

(Matthew 16:24) Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”