04.04.12 The 8th Key for Adding Value to Your Husband's Life

8. Create and Maintain a Joyful Environment

A joyful environment refers to a space that brings a positive state of long-lasting contentment and satisfaction for your husband, yourself and of course other family members.

You may have noticed how Michal failed to create a joyful environment for David during the second phase of their marriage. Her knife-cutting comments about his dancing extinguished her husband’s happiness, putting a bad ending to what had begun as a memorable and delightful day. What comes out clearly is that David’s joy was not Michal’s priority.

On my part, I discovered that a joyful environment begins with me, after observing that whenever I would be gloomy, the entire household would be miserable; and yet when I was happy, everyone would follow suit. Therefore, I intentionally avoid ‘joy-killers’ by identifying those things that could be draining my joy and either addressing or avoiding them.

A value-adding wife makes the effort to create and maintain a joyful environment for her husband (and other family members) as that boosts his motivation, confidence and strength (Nehemiah 8:10b).

A joyful environment ‘begins with you’ as you cannot give what you do not have. In fact, some writers assert that a husband could interpret your joy to mean that you are satisfied with him while your sadness could make him feel inadequate or apprehensive that he is not meeting your expectations. Therefore, it is critically important that you keep your joy if you are to create and maintain a joyful environment. In order to achieve that, there are things that you could do; and I will mention a few here. For starters, it is important to recall that no one can take away the joy that Jesus gives you. See what John 16:22-24 says (NKJV): ²²Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you. ²³“And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. ²⁴Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. The second thing to consider is your level of faith, which is so important. In order to experience joy to the full, you must ask by faith and receive the answers to your prayer before they manifest in the physical realm. Third, know God’s promises and embrace them as yours. Keep confessing them so that they download from the spiritual realm to the physical (Mark 11:23). Fourth, stay positive by focusing on what is working (Romans 8:28) as you devise means of addressing any challenges in your path (Luke 10:19).

Lastly, research shows that people who are happy feel good about themselves. Therefore, get to know what makes your husband happy so that you incorporate those ‘joy bringers’ in the experience you provide.