Wash His Feet: 31 Days of Serving Your Spouse (Introduction)

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Wash His Feet

Fair warning: Before I jump into today’s post, I need to give you a heads up about something. We’ll be spending the entire month of October looking at ways we can bless our husbands, which is a good thing! But serving our spouses is also a loaded topic, one which is easy to misunderstand or misconstrue. So, I want to let you know ahead of time that I will probably put my verbal foot in my mouth at some point in this series. I’ve done it before, and while I strive to avoid doing so at all costs, I’ve no doubt I will inadvertently do it again. I apologize in advance.

Proceed with caution! :)

One of my greatest joys as a blogger is getting to pray for my readers. I love it when people reach out to me with prayer requests, because praying for them is something I can do no matter how far away they live!

And as more and more prayer requests come in, I’m noticing a trend.

By far, the topic that people most often request prayer about is for their marriages.

And it really should be no surprise. Marriage, as wonderful as it can be, is the union of two sinners (read: selfish people) trying to live in harmony with one another. It’s naturally going to provide all of us ample opportunity to for refinement in areas we probably didn’t even know were an issue!

Because I now know that so many are struggling in their marriages, I’ve long wanted to create a blog resource to help with this topic. But please know that I’m not sharing this blog series in an “I’ve got this marriage thing all figured out” attitude - not at all. Because I’ve not gotten marriage figured out at all. And even if I had, just because something works in my own marriage doesn’t guarantee that it will translate perfectly into yours. My heart’s desire is to walk with you as together we try to make small, daily changes in our marriages that will glorify God.

In John 13, we see Jesus serving His disciples by washing their feet. As the Son of God, He certainly did not have to take on the position of a servant! And yet, that’s exactly what He did. In verses 14-15, Jesus explains:

“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.  For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you” (NKJV).

Based on this premise, I invite you to join me this entire month for a very special challenge:

Wash His Feet: 31 Days of Serving Your Spouse

We’re simply going to try 31 different ways to bless our husbands, no strings attached. Each day, Lord willing, I’ll have a new idea for us to follow through on. You’ll probably find that you’re already naturally incorporating many of the suggestions, and hopefully a few will be new to you. Some will come naturally to you, while others might feel somewhat out of your comfort zone. I encourage you to try all of them and see what resonates the most with your own husband.

“But how is serving my spouse going to help with the problems in my marriage?” you may be wondering.

Here’s the thing the Lord keeps bringing back to me: there’s a lot about our marriages that we can’t change. We can’t change our husbands (only the Lord can do that). We can’t save them, force them to do things for us, or make them enjoy things they don’t naturally like.

But we can change our own attitudes toward our husbands. We can - with the Lord’s help - change ourselves.

So, even if 99% of the problems in your marriage stem from your husband, I still believe that deliberately serving him, choosing to put his needs above your own, and loving him as Christ loves him will go a long way toward mending the issues between you and your spouse.

If you’re willing to join with me this month (I’ll be doing these same things for my own husband right along with you!), there are a few key things to keep in mind:

  • You must feel led of the Lord to join in this challenge. Doing it in your own strength will backfire completely.

  • You must be willing to join this challenge without any expected return. Would it be nice if your husband notices and reciprocates? Of course it would, but that’s not the purpose for taking part. This is simply an opportunity for you to work on blessing your husband while growing in your faith. That’s it.

  • You must be willing to give each day’s assignment a try. No skipping over it because you don’t feel like doing it or don’t want to put in the effort! If we’re out to bless our spouses and in turn our marriages, we need to be fully committed. No half-hearted attempts allowed. I’m going to be right here joining you, so you’ll have accountability!

  • You must be willing to pray every day and ask the Lord for help. We CANNOT do this without Him.

If you’ve stuck with me this far, congrats! I’m eager to see how the Lord works in each of our marriages in the next 31 days. I cannot promise you that your husband will appreciate or even notice your efforts. I can’t promise that your marriage will be better as a result. But I can promise that if you approach these next 31 days with a humble willingness to do your best, the Lord can work in your own heart through this challenge, helping you to grow in your love for the Lord and in your love for your husband. And it will be worth it for that alone!

Are you in? Be sure to grab the accompanying free Marriage Assessment by clicking the button below, then scroll down to read each day’s post!

Wash His Feet