Together in Christ: 'Declare Her Praise' — Proverbs 31:30-31

How good are you at praising others?

How well do you affirm those in your family when they are worthy or need affirmation?

How often do you express your love, affection, and admiration for your marriage partner or your closest friend and confidant if you are single?

I am convinced that the sickening and addictive draw that seduces so many people into doing things for attention on social media is rooted both in human selfishness and in our unwillingness in families to affirm the value of each other. Too many people today need the "likes" on social media to compensate for the lack of praise, tenderness, and affection from those they love.

This part of the message about the worthy woman of Proverbs 31 ^[1] falls at our feet as husbands and fathers. Yes, it is a call for all people to praise, reward, and declare the value of good women. And yes, our culture still has a long way to go if we are going to fully recognize women as talented, capable people created in the image of God. ^[2] We should not place external limitations or stereotypes on them. So, let's remedy our cultural problem by learning some things we can do and say to help us obey our relationship verse for today.

When God affirmed His Son, Jesus, at the Lord's baptism, ^[3] God affirmed His relationship with Jesus, His love for Jesus, and His pleasure in Jesus. We need to do this affirmation whether we are women or men. But those of us who are men need to prioritize this skill and follow the example of our Father in heaven, especially with our wives if we are married.

• We need to find ways to let our marriage partner know we are delighted to be married to them and share a family and build a life together with them.
  — We need to affirm our relationship.
• We need to creatively, repeatedly, tenderly, surprisingly, and consistently let our marriage partner know we love them.
  — We need to affirm our love.
• We need to be sure to communicate our joy, pride, pleasure, and excitement for the good things our marriage partner does.
  — We need to affirm our pleasure.

After all, husbands, God commanded us to praise and reward our wives with appreciation and love, even in public!