Honor at the City Gates

Yami and I were sitting on the bench under the shade of a tree discussing life and marriage. She is only twenty-one and I have been married now twenty-one years.  I love my moments with Yami because she wants to honor God in every area of her life.

I said to her, “Do you realize I have been married as long as you have been alive?”

“WOW!” she replied.

“Yami, this morning in my prayer time, I realized something. For twenty-one years, I have prayed that I am like the Proverbs 31 woman. I have asked God to use me to bring honor to my husband at the city gates based on Proverbs 31:23, but I have never asked God to specifically to bring me honor through my husband at the city gates.”

Yami replied, “Wouldn’t it be wrong for you to ask God to bring you honor through your husband?”

“No, not in the way that Proverbs 31 is referencing character. See, by praying for me to bring my husband honor at the city gates. I am praying for Godly influence and character. This is not about a personal focus, but a recognition that I am for God and true in all ways. It is a prayer for integrity, honesty, hard work, and open arms that lend a hand. So, this morning when it occurred to me that in twenty-one years of marriage I had never asked God to bring me honor through my husband at the city gates, it wasn’t so much about me, but about what this implies about praying into his character. 

A person who brings honor at the city gates based on Proverbs 31 is someone that fears the LORD and all who know of this person will see this and praise the person (Proverbs 31: 31).  If I am walking in these truths my husband is honored because he has chosen well and has a wife of noble character. If I am brought honor at the city gates because of my husband it is the same. It is all about noble character that glorifies God. Of course, I have prayed many of these principles into my Greg, but the phrase "honor at the city gates" sums up so many truths that will bring about the glory of God. I like how the phrase sums it all up!”

How about you? How are you praying for you to bring your husband honor at the city gates or that your husband bring you honor at the city gates? These are prayers that give our marriages strength and in the end bring glory to God.

“Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.” “Give her the reward she has earned and let her works bring her praise at the city gate” (Proverbs 31:23).