A word from the wise to the guys …

How can a man be happy in life?

The world will tell you it’s to find pleasure in women. Be a “womanizer”!

But a guy gifted with great wisdom by God, who also “played the field” to the tune of one thousand women, found that a multitude of women didn’t make him happy. In fact, it harmed his life this way:

“Now King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh’s daughter, he married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and from among the Hittites. The Lord had clearly instructed the people of Israel, ‘You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.’ Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway. He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the Lord,” 1 Kings 11:1-3.

It isn’t that a man can’t experience happiness with a woman, you just can’t do it in the fashion Solomon tried. After experimenting in many ways with what would make him happy, including indulging the flesh with many women, Solomon would step back and offer a word from the wise to the guys.

First, a warning: “I discovered that a seductive woman is a trap more bitter than death. Her passion is a snare, and her soft hands are chains. Those who are pleasing to God will escape her, but sinners will be caught in her snare,” Ecclesiastes 7:26.

Then, an encouragement: “Live happily with the woman you love through all the meaningless days of life that God has given you under the sun. The wife God gives you is your reward for all your earthly toil,” Ecclesiastes 9:9.

Solomon would come to think of a wife as being a reward or gift from God. His advice to the guys? “Live happily” with her.

That’s where a lot of guys make mistakes.

They get so busy with climbing career ladders, providing for their families, and chasing dreams they miss something that can contribute significant joy to their lives — living happily with their wife. It’s not uncommon in counseling sessions that I will ask men what they are doing each week to enjoy their wife (and the same question to wives about their husbands). A blank stare and stutter is often the response to my question.

They forget to enjoy their wife!

Guys, your wife is the person you’re supposed to love second only to God! Do you prioritize her and invest time with her every week like she’s second only to God to you? If not, now is the time to start, and see if that doesn’t add some happiness to your life.

Scotty