The Image of a Good Husband

What are some qualities of a good Husband?  Do you know good Husbands?  What about them is good?  What actions and behaviors lead you to believe that they are good Husbands?

Lets say you have someone in mind.  This guy is the best Husband to his wife that you know.  The best you have seen.  Where do you think he learned that?  Why did he choose to be that way?

Was his Dad a great Husband so he had an awesome teacher and role model?  Or was his Dad a jerk of a Husband and he vowed to be the Husband to his Wife what his Mom deserved.

Did he study some other Husbands and learn what to do and not to do?  Did he read books about what it means to be a good Husband?  And if he did read those books, where do you suppose those Husbands learned what it means to be a good Husband?

I ask these questions for many reasons.  Here are a few.

1. I want to be a good Husband.  

2. I want to encourage current Husbands to crank it up a notch.  

3. I want to teach future Husbands how to best serve their Wife.

But in order to do this, I think we have to have a definition of a good Husband.  There need to be somewhat specific actions so that being a good Husband is a legitimate target.  As of now, Husbands simply compare their actions to their Fathers, friends Fathers, or other random guys they know.  There really isn't a clear blueprint.  So how are they to know if they are doing well?  If they are doing better than their image of a Husband but worse than the Wife's image of a Husband, who bridges that gap?

The Bible doesn't offer many examples of great Husbands because of the time period in which it was written. Yes the Bible does address certain advice and behaviors for Husbands but many of the great male characters of the Bible had multiple wives as was customary for their culture.  Women had little to no rights so there was not much they could do about it.  Can you think of even one example of a Husband in the Bible that was known for sweeping his Wife off her feet, loving her as Christ loved the church, being their for her emotionally, challenging her spiritually, guarding her heart, and passionately leading his marriage to bring glory to God?  

Well here we are 2,000 years later in a different world where Men and Women are equal.  Where Husbands are made fun of by their Wives on nearly every TV show and where Husbands show their love by going to Jared (buying diamonds) or surprising them on Christmas morning with a luxury vehicle topped by a ginormous bow.  

So which one is it?  Or is it a combination of the two?  If so, is it 50-50, 70-30, or 20-80?  

I'm open to any comments, questions, or suggestions.  I'll be exploring this topic throughout the Summer as it is the topic of my first book, which I will be writing in July.  These blogs are just practice.   The good stuff will hopefully be published.

If you're a praying person, will you pray that God will give me words to write that will challenge and encourage future readers?  Thanks!  I would appreciate it. :)