The Reality of My Grumpy Generosity

When it comes to people outside of my marriage, it’s easy for me to help and give. I get great joy from giving gifts and giving my talents to bless other people. 

However, there are times when I don’t have such a cheerful attitude, especially when I feel forced to give or guilted into giving.This grumpy heart attitude leads to a complaining voice..

But there’s one area I struggle most with giving with a happy heart, and that’s in my marriage. 

It’s important we address our heart posture when it comes to giving in our marriage because we likely don’t want to. Yet, God calls us to have giving hearts and to give cheerfully. But if we’re honest, it’s hard! 

Let’s take a second to assess our hearts, and then get practical wisdom in how to move forward.

Do you look for ways to bless your husband?  

Do you serve your husband with a happy heart?

OR

Do you feel guilted into serving him?

Do you serve him with a grumpy heart?

How can we change our mindset so that we can give generously to our husbands? The following tips have helped me move from a grumpy giver to a cheerful giver.

1. Take time to reflect on all that God has given to you through His Son, Jesus. Do you live with this reflection at the forefront of your mind? Any giving must come from gratitude of what was done on the cross.
2. Recognize that God gives generously to us all the time. Make it a daily practice to thank God for the gifts He gives through the character of your husband, your children, and all that you have.
3. Practice giving with no strings attached. Simply bless.
4. Be generous to yourself. When you are giving yourself grace, you are much more likely to extend grace and generosity to others.
5. Give compliments. When we are looking for the good in others, it tends to change our negative attitude.
6. Remind yourself that being generous is a sure-fire way to strengthen your marriage.

Proverbs 11:25 instructs, “A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.”  My prayer for you, as well as myself, is that we will change our grumpiness into cheerfulness as we practice being generous to our husband. 

Wife Step: Evaluate your level of generosity with your husband. Which tip do you need to implement in your life to help rid you of your grumpy generosity?

Karen lives in Madison, Alabama with her husband and three children. Karen has served as Preschool and Children’s Pastor and has been involved in women’s ministry for many years leading small groups, making hospital visits, organizing retreats, and encouraging the hearts of women. Karen now blogs at Glimpses of Faith and Struggles.  What started out as a way to communicate medical facts has become a place where Karen uses life experiences to encourage others in their life journey.  When she’s not busy caring for her family or writing, you might find her cooking or crafting.