No tags yet.
My husband and I watched the video of Ray Rice striking his now wife twice in an elevator, resulting in knocking her out completely. As my husband commented on his distaste for how a man could just punch a woman like that and knock her out, I couldn’t help but think that countless other men feel the same disgust at his actions. I found a very significant parallel that probably most of these men may never see.
I truly believe that the video of this man walking with his now wife into a private elevator to then beat her down is a spot on visual of what many women emotionally experience, as well. The same men that get so enraged at a man punching and beating down a woman, don’t even realize that they may be doing this same thing to their wife’s spirit.
As long as they were in public, Ray Rice restrained himself from allowing everyone else to see the hurt he would cause to the woman he has promised to cherish. I have seen many husbands seem very attractive to the average person in public. They are charming, hardworking, and respectful to those around them. They liven up their surroundings and those in their casual circle of influence see them as “such good men”. However, when they enter the elevator of their homes they quit showcasing the appealing qualities that draw so many to them.
I’ve seen that behind closed doors these same men that criticize any man for beating down a woman, continually beat down their wife with their words and actions. They constantly tell them what they are not instead of what they can become. They constantly tell them what they are missing instead of praising them for all that they give. They constantly relay to them how they are not good enough all the while truly believing that they themselves are the cream of the crop. And lastly, these “good men” in public view, very often have private lives that defile the sanctity of the sexual marriage relationship.
The wives of these men are left feeling beaten down with their head hung down in shame and heartbreak. These wives have to receive the compliments of acquaintances toward their husband with smiles on their faces, all the while knowing the deep heartaches and longings they face each day from these “good” men. The husbands relish in the compliments from all the people around them that never experience what life is like with them in the elevator.
I pray that the men who have watched the Ray Rice video and have felt such disgust over a man flexing his strength to hurt a woman so badly could take a honest look at their life and examine if their actions have emotionally, mentally, and spiritually done the exact same thing to their wives. Do their actions build up and lift up their wife to become a happy, hopeful, and secure woman? Or do their actions cause their wife to constantly try to heal the wounds inflicted to them, rendering them weak, broken, and defeated?
Physical wounds can sometimes heal more completely than wounds most of the people around us never even know we have. I pray we always stand up for women who are being physically hurt by men, but may we never sit back and judge a man for knocking out his wife all the while we beat down our family members in a more discreet way that is just as loathsome.
Father God, please open my eyes to see how my words and actions affect the people closest to me. Thank You for the visual that I can now remember displays the hurt I have the power to cause to my spouse. My hurtful and destructive words and actions are no less shameful because they are private than they are if I did them for all to see. Please help me to have integrity with my spouse as I build them no matter if we are in a public crowd or in a private elevator.
Luke 16:15
Then [Jesus] said to them, "You like to appear righteous in public, but God knows your hearts..."