The Servant’s Heart Marriage Challenge

This weekend, let’s focus on developing a servant’s heart in our marriages.

The Challenge

1. Over the next 4 days choose at least one act of service for your husband each day. Select something from a different category every day.
2. Perform your act of service cheerfully.
3. Pray for God to bless your husband and thank God for your husband as you serve.
4. Expect nothing in return from your husband. No praise. No thanks. No accolades. Just seek to bless him and honor the Lord without any strings attached.

We serve God and people because we love Jesus and are so thankful for all He did for us.

Categories of Service

Here are some ideas for different ways you may want to serve your husband in 4 different categories.

1. Cooking

Cook his favorite meal and/or his favorite dessert. Make him a cup of his favorite kind of coffee. Bring him a snack while he is working, if it won’t distract him. Or prepare breakfast in bed for him one morning.

2. Cleaning

Clean a room that is really important to him that you know he would like for you to clean. Get the house ready as you would for company. Clean out his car for him and wash it. Tidy and organize the bedroom/kitchen/living area.

(Note- don’t clean or organize something if you know it will upset him.)

3. Chores

Do a chore for him that he usually does himself. Take his dishes to the sink. Pick up his dirty clothes on the bathroom floor. Take out the trash. Fill up his car with gas. Hang up his laundry and put it away.

4. Pampering

Think of something special that would really mean a lot to your husband that you haven’t done in awhile. Prepare a bath for him. Offer a back massage or a foot rub. Give him extra time and space to himself to wind down if he appreciates that. Sit and listen if he wants to talk about his day and give him your undivided attention.

And (Jesus) said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”

Mark 9:35

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

Gal. 5:13

Sign Up in the Comments!

Please let us know you are joining the challenge this weekend in the comments! (Of course, you can join any time.)

We’d love to hear your ideas for ways you decide to serve your husband this weekend.

You can also share if you need any encouragement or support over the weekend in the thread there.

May the Lord richly bless your walk with Him and your marriage and family for His glory.
Amen!

Related

The Single Biggest Key to a Healthy Marriage – Humility

What Is Respect in Marriage?

What Was the Significance of Jesus Washing the Feet of the Disciples? by www.gotquestions.org

If you need baby steps in learning how to truly respect and honor the Lord and how to respect and have a cooperative spirit with your husband, check out The Peaceful Wife by April Cassidy.

19 comments

      1. April, I’ve followed your posts for years, off and on, quietly growing. For some reason, there was an alert in my Emails… guess I set that up for challenges to keep you coming back and reminding me what I’ve learned already and keeping me in touch with this blog. With “goings on” lately, life is even more complicated, and this hubby is even more important to me. This post, God’s timing for sure. Thanks for keeping these posts going. I remember when I wasn’t certain that would happen and prayed God would show you how these posts were a gift to us readers and you would continue….in sharing your gifts, and wisdom. Blessings.

        1. Roberta B,

          I’m so glad to hear from you. What an answer to my prayers that God has used the posts as a blessing to you. I can’t wait to meet you one day. Either here on earth or in heaven to hug your neck and find out all about what God has done!

          Yes, we need stronger marriages more now than ever before. I actually wrote a little post about that yesterday on my FB page. I’ll share it in a moment.

          I’m so thankful for the opportunity to continue to share. What an honor to watch God working in lives of precious women around the world.

          Much love in Christ!

  1. Something I shared on my Peaceful Wife Blog Facebook page yesterday, maybe I will share it next week as a post here, too:

    Ladies, we need strong marriages and families more than ever as the “birth pangs” Jesus spoke of during the last days increase in frequency and intensity.

    I want to encourage wives to do several things right now:

    1. Do all you can on your end to be as close to the Lord as possible yourself. Be sensitive to God’s Word and His Spirit. Then you can be unshakeable!
    2. Do everything in your power to honor and support your husband’s appropriate use of God-given leadership in your home for yourself and your children.
    3. Treat your husband with respect out of reverence for the Lord. Invite God to help you.
    4. Teach your children to honor their dad’s parental authority (and your own).
    5. Pray fervently. Be spiritually alert.
    6. Be ready to share the gospel with those who don’t know Jesus and to share the reason for your hope, peace, and joy in Christ.

    PRAY

    Pray for our leaders in government, church, business, schools, and for our husbands to have God’s wisdom and leading. Pray for many people to come into the Kingdom of Christ through these trials. Pray for God to work to purify and refine our faith. Pray for God to empower us to be faithful and obedient to Him and to set godly examples for those around us.

    REMEMBER GOD IS IN CONTROL AND HE WILL ACCOMPLISH HIS GOOD PURPOSES

    We are witnessing a great increase in lawlessness and unrest. The Bible says that is how things will be in the last days before the rapture of the church and the 7-year Tribulation time. So this shouldn’t be a surprise, as sad as it is.

    – And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. Matt. 24:12 (Please read Matthew 24, Luke 21, 2 Thess. 2)

    God is still in control. His plan is falling into place. He has each of us here for such a time as this to be salt and light during this time. So our love doesn’t have to grow cold!

    As things are being shaken across our nation and around the world, we need strong families and strong marriages more than ever.

    The enemy wants to tear us all apart and set us against each other. He wants to instill hatred, fear, and division.

    Jesus offers love, unity, peace, joy, and healing.

    Don’t allow your mind and your words to be tools in the hands of the enemy to tear down your husband and children or anyone else.

    BE IN TUNE WITH GOD

    Receive God’s love and truth in your own life. Then allow God to speak through you. Build up your husband and children. Speak life to them and to everyone around you.

    God wants to use your husband to protect and lead you and your children at all times, but it is especially critical in times of distress. Be open to how the Lord may want to guide your family and to the way He may be leading your husband.

    NOTE: God never calls wives to respect a husband’s sin or to condone abuse. Husbands are supposed to protect their wives and children, love them, treat them with honor, selflessly lead, and provide for them. If you or your children are not safe with your husband, please reach out for appropriate, experienced help.

  2. April, I love your challenges.
    Your message about the world around us is spot on. My husband, who is not saved, is seeing the craziness around the world and in our own community and is beginning to see that Christianity has value. Serving him is an honor always but I plan on going the extra mile for the challenge.
    I’d say wish me luck but I have Jesus. No luck required.
    God bless!

    1. Happily gave up,

      Yes, many people who have never thought about becoming believers are starting to wake up and ask what’s going on and if we are approaching the end times the Bible describes. They are also seeing that the world’s ways are leading to a scary mess and lots of chaos and danger.

      I’m excited that you are joining us!

      I pray for you to be super receptive to the Spirit’s power, wisdom, and leading!

      Much love!

  3. Just to let you know that I am joining the challenge this weekend to deliberately serve my husband in those 4 areas. We are a family of 6 plus a boarder and we’ve just welcomed another family of 6 to stay with us last night in our small-ish house, and what with going away on holiday soon there will be plenty of areas to serve in! My challenge will be to do my own tasks (cheerfully!) as well as look out for my husband in extra-serving ways. It’s a good challenge for me and will bless him!

    1. Joanna Harrington,

      Wow! You have a LOT going on. 🙂 Praying for you as you begin this challenge that you might act cheerfully and have all the energy and power of the Spirit to help you.

      Much love!

  4. I will love to Join the challenge. I pray it works. I am a cameroonian and African men understand love a little differently.

    1. Phebe Tamonjong,

      You are welcome to join! I’d love to hear some of the cultural differences sometime.

      It would probably be ideal if each wife had a godly wife mentor from her own culture because there can be some big differences in how to communicate respect, honor, love, and service in different countries and cultures.

  5. Does ur hubby like the attention when u do these things? I know i’ve read somewhere that Greg doesn’t ask much from u, and it just had me wondering, is he receptive.. xoxoxo just trying to get a feel for what results spring forth when u do these lovely things for him! 🙂 ur amazing April!

    1. Jaimie Mills,

      He isn’t super verbal about it, but I know he appreciates his favorite foods sometimes and some pampering. He doesn’t like to be the center of attention too much and he doesn’t like to ask for anything. But he would never turn down a massage! 🙂

      1. ok that was the biggest thing i was curious about, if he expresses verbally about it! I’m sure Greg is living on cloud 9 with u as his wife! xoxo

        1. Jaimie Mills,

          I can’t claim to be perfect! But I sure do desire to bless him. I know he has been much happier in recent years than the earlier years of our marriage. <3

          1. your hearts desire to bless him is what God sees..strength and honor are your clothing!

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