Our marriage was broken. What we needed -my husband and I – was a miracle. Along the way, I discovered words of affirmation for men in a new way.
A marriage can be too broken for The 5 Love Languages’ words of affirmation for him to work. I know it’s not what everyone talks about, but Y’all, they just had no effect on us when I first started trying to find the answers to save my marriage.
Words of affirmation for men (admiration and appreciation words for husband) and prayer are two of the biggest things that fixed our broken marriage. Because words of affirmation for a husband speak respect! Click To TweetWhat Are Words of Affirmation For Men?
One of the reasons the Words of affirmation for him from the 5 Love Languages didn’t help us, was because I didn’t understand what affirmation was.
- Words of affirmation for men were about more than just saying nice things.
What are words of affirmation for a man?
When you think of needs in marriage, his needs and her needs, we don’t often think about words. But let’s put them together today. Literally, I want you to say these words together… nonsensical or not, just start linking them mentally.
- A need for him – husbands need words.
- Words of affirmation to husband – husbands need words of affirmation.
Putting these things together helped me so much to be a more godly wife!
And just for fairness, know that these would also work as words of affirmation for her. Men and women need some of the same affirmations in life.
Related Post: 14 Characteristics of a Godly Wife That Will Save Your Marriage
What are Words of Affirmation for Him?
Google words of affirmation definition (or what does affirmation mean) and you will see something like this:
- Expressing affection through spoken praise or appreciation.
Now, I could be affectionate, but I struggled with praise and appreciation.
The question I came back to God with was a hard one to write.
“How can I express love in words to my husband when we have marriage problems.”
Words of Affirmation In A Difficult Marriage
Have you ever searched for things to say to your husband to make him smile? I did.
When I did, I found all these funny words of affirmation for him lists. I read the results and laughed, not because they were funny in reality, but because I couldn’t imagine ever saying those things. Not one of them, and meaning it. That’s where we were.
And I knew if I tried to just push through and say the words of affirmation for men falsely he would see straight through me. He would feel manipulated.
So I had to find another way forward in the midst of the hard times I was facing with this amazing man
The Problem With The 5 Love Languages
Why can’t the Love Language words of affirmation for him work when there are marriage problems? I genuinely wondered and felt… broken and outcast about it for a long time as we kept facing tough times in different ways.
Then God put this picture come to mind.
Imagine our Christian marriage is like a car… maybe a deep purple VW Bug with cute seat covers and a steering wheel all decked out in cool stickers. Can you picture it?
In a healthy marriage, the car would take us through life with ease! As a team we can conquer anything… or so I thought.
The words of affirmation love language style are like gas. Gas gives the car energy to get where we are going – to end well, with a successful marriage.
Now, our car was broken just like our marriage… let’s say the cause of death was rusted spark plugs. It doesn’t matter how much gas you put in that car, it’s not moving until you replace the spark plugs or clean them – or whatever you do to spark plugs…
Deeper Needs in Brokeness
When there has been great trauma, loss, or broken trust, the marriage suffers. Husband and wife have deeper needs that must be met before a relationship can move forward from broken to successful.
Dr. Emerson Eggerichs says, “Men need respect while women need love,” in his book Love and Respect.
I disagree about the love bit – I believe women need security before love matters – at least I do. LOL, as I think about it, there are other things in the book that I disagree with, but overall, there are also many amazing things.
I learned a lot about words of respect to husbands, from a husband’s perspective from it.
Related Post: To the Wife Who Needs Security in a Christian Marriage
Men Need Respect Before They Need Love
Do affirmations work for men?
If my husband doesn’t feel respected – no amount of love will speak to him. In fact, he will shut down and stop any attempts of showing me love or providing me with security.
In fact, after living this out for several years now, I feel so strongly I wish I could add a note to the dictionary about the word respect.
- Words of affirmation define the way a wife really sees her husband in her husband’s mind. Words of affirmation for him are a tangible way of showing respect.
Related Post: How to Improve Communication in a Christian Marriage: Respect
Words of affirmation define the way a wife really sees her husband in her husband's mind. Words of affirmation for him are a tangible way of showing respect. Click To TweetToo Broken For Respect
The first marriage retreat Bud and I went to introduce us to The Five Love Languages. We took a test to find out what our Love Language was… Have you taken the test?
Dr. Gary Chapman gives the following list of five different things that show love to your partner:
- Acts of service
- Receiving gifts
- Quality time
- Words of affirmation
- Physical touch
The test teaches you the best way to understand love yourself and reveals your partner’s love language, their primary love language anyway.
The retreat gave us some tools to try out in the broken marriage. The tools left us feeling hopeless.
You see, we were broken too deeply for a little gas to start our car again. We needed real help to save a marriage.
Ten years later we are finally in a healthy healing place – a place where we both feel respect and security enough to speak love to each other.
The point I hope you hear is not that the words of affirmation in love language are bad or that there is no hope for your marriage. NO! Far from it. The point is, if tools for a healthy marriage don’t work for you, keep digging in until you find ways to heal the brokenness!
Ten years later we are finally in a healthy healing place – a place where we both feel Respect and Security enough to speak love to each other. Click To TweetHow Did We Fix Our Christian Marriage?
For the past several years God has been completely overhauling my understanding of marriage – specifically my role as a wife in this Christian marriage.
When I hit rock bottom I finally let go and let God have control of every area – including my marriage. Total surrendered. Haha, it always goes that way, doesn’t it? Why do we have to hit rock bottom before we give God the steering wheel (stickered or otherwise)!?!?!?!
Related Post: How To Let Go and Let God: Surrender Brings Peace
I learned the power of words of affirmation from God’s perspective
How To Fix A Broken Marriage
After years of studying and meeting with counselors, I found 9 areas where a wife can find hope and healing to fix a broken marriage. Through those 9 key topics, a wife can find hope and joy in her marriage no matter what season she is walking through.
I pulled them all together into a 9-week Bible study to help others on this journey.
Finding Hope and Joy in My Marriage: A 9-Week Bible Study for Wives Seeking to Fix a Broken Marriage
What are Christian Words of Affirmation for Him?
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” (Proverbs 18:21 NASB)
The trust is, positive words of affirmation for husband are not a love language in the way we normally think. Nope, they were a tool God gives us to show respect to everyone in our lives. He tells us to respect so many people and positions.
Seriously, there are so many verses about the power of our words. They really convinced me to change the way I think about my words and respect! When you freely offer up words of affirmation for your partner things begin to change dramatically.
Related Post: Bible Verses About The Power of the Tongue
Why are Words of Affirmation for Him Important?
Biblical affirmations for husbands are so important, but when that particular lesson began I did not actually respect my husband. Do you?
I was trying to figure out, “What words of affirmation do men like to hear?” and, “What is the most powerful word of affirmation?” But I was coming up blank!
Honestly, I love my husband but I did not respect him. I couldn’t think of a single thing he did well or that I couldn’t do better. I certainly didn’t think ‘my best gift is my husband’ or that ‘my husband is the best gift from God’ as many urged me to think.
My husband had messed up so much and refused to try so often that I struggled to find the first thing to admire in him. And he knew it… and it hurt us so much more…
BUT God says wives are to respect their husbands. And words for my husband are a way to show respect.
How Can I Show Affirmation for My Husband When I Don’t Respect Him?
Okay, so maybe you feel like I am going on and on too long about this lack of respect. Cool. If you don’t struggle with this, go to the section with examples of words of affirmation for husbands.
But for the rest of us, I want to share 4 practical How To’s that helped me begin to feel respect, think the respect, and then speak respect to my husband.
- Think back
- Pray for God’s eyes
- Dream
- Believe God
Think Back To The Beginning to Find Words of Affirmation for Men
Well, there I was, knowing I needed to affirm my husband and show respect through my words in some way. But I had no idea what to say about the man he was.
Then, one day while in my quiet time, I felt the prompt from the Lord to think back. “Think way back to when you started dating. There were things that drew you to this man.”
- For me, it is that Bud was honest, funny, athletic, a hard worker, so much fun to be around, and fiercely loyal.
Seriously, back then I could have written a list of 50 affirmations for boyfriends in under 30 minutes! What changed? He used to be my best friend, and filling his love tank was never a problem back then.
As I remembered things, I began telling him and reminiscing with him about those days in our life before responsibility, trauma, and loss. Those were the best words for husband motivation (the best words of affirmation) I could find and they lit a spark.
Pray For God’s Eyes to See Words of Affirmation for Men
“ If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” (James 1:5 NIV)
When I am lacking the inner strength to see him as a good man, a man of integrity, I have to pray. I pray God helps me fight the negative thoughts, and helps me become a better woman, the best person I can be in the Lord. My husband will never be my dream guy, but the most important part of marriage is loving each other while God changes us. We do a great job in marriage when we love each other with much joy in spite of the hard times!
Then God reminded me that He gives wisdom without judgment. So I began to pray for God to open my eyes and help me see Bud the way He sees Bud.
Suddenly, I began to see all kinds of good things about this man, (little things like his sense of humor, his kind words, how he is a good listener and a great cook). The little things he does on a daily basis have always made him my favorite person, which was hard to believe or see in the midst of the hurt.
You see, I had convinced myself he was 100% bad, worthless, and unnecessary for my life. (Sorry if that’s a little too honest… but it was the place I was living.)
As I spoke each affirmation for my husband he rose to the respect in an amazing way. Prayer is more than speaking my husband’s love language, it is about seeing the best version of the man he is through God’s eyes.
Dream About the Future to Find Words of Affirmation for My Husband
Not only did God help me see Bud through his eyes, the man he is becoming, but He also challenged me to dream. Dream of the things I wish I saw in him. Do you ever dream of what could be inside of your marriage?
I started searching scripture for things God says He wants in us all and praying for those things in my husband.
Y’all, God has faithfully been answering.
I wanted Bud to fix the things in the house and cars, be an active father, lead us spiritually, have good godly guy friends, take the financial burden from me, etc.
Words of affirmation for my husband have been words of life that saved my marriage.
Believe God For Words of Affirmation for Men That Will Breath Life
One of my favorite husbands quotes or love quotes for a husband is below and it really helped change my perspective from nagging to encouraging.
“Treat a man as he is, and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he could be, and he will become what he should be.” ~Ralph Waldo Emmerson
We must remember, speaking into the future version of your husband isn’t naive. Neither is it setting you up for disappointment. Rather, it is believing God is able to move and change. Do you believe God can change your husband?
It may not happen the way you want, but it will happen. And when it does, you will be able to praise HIM!
50+ Words of Affirmation Examples for Him and How To Use Them
What words of affirmation do men like to hear?
Below is a list of husband affirmations or words of affirmation examples from my own marriage. I try to use these words of affirmation daily to encourage him to be a better person, and a stronger person, and keep building on the momentum of our healing relationship.
How Do You Give a Man Words of Affirmation?
How do I give my husband an affirmation word? I text him, I write note cards, and I randomly bring things up to him throughout the week.
BUT… there are some times when these words of affirmation for men will help and other times when they will not help.
When he is upset or thinks I am trying to change him… they do not help.
If something has gone very bad at work… nothing I say will help until he has had time to calm down.
Often, it is a big help to wait until a neutral time or a happy time to bring something back up and affirm him or speak life into your man. (For us that is often after sexual intimacy which is a deeper need in any man’s love language.)
You know your man, just be a good student of him as you try building him up with these Christian words of affirmation!
I hope they inspire you!
Words of Affirmation at Work
This goes beyond what men like to hear… we have to ask, “What words do men need to hear?”
I write these encouraging messages for my husband on note cards and slip them in the car so he finds them on the way to work. Think of them as creative ways to learn how to express love in words to your husband… even for things you feel he should do. We all like a pat on the back!
1. I admire the way you work even on the bad days.
2. I feel secure when you work so hard.
3. It is so sexy when you come home from work all sweaty (exhausted).
4. Thank you for providing for us.
5. If I could go back and change everything, I would still pick you.
6. I love you more today than when we married.
7. You are the most amazing father.
8. I love watching you love your children.
9. You are a great role model for our children.
10. Thank you for fixing the….
Words of Affirmation for Him in the Morning
What are some positive affirmations for men?
These are some sweet things to say to your husband in text messages throughout the day. My husband is a morning person, I try to send a good morning affirmation text for him when I know he is starting his route at work. It makes his day!
If these don’t spark something, ask yourself this question. What can I say to make my husband feel special? You know him. Speak life into his insecurities and fears with these encouraging words of affirmation for him.
11. I appreciate you taking care of the ……
12. You really turn me on when you handle the….
13. I admire your consistency.
14. When you fixed that I couldn’t look away from your muscular…
15. I feel safe when you are with me.
16. Thank you for being honest about …
17. I love to look at you.
18. When you lead our home, I feel cherished.
19. You can do anything you set your mind to. You proved it when you did the right thing…
20. I admire you for finishing…
Words of Affirmation for Mental Health
Sometimes I will write these affirmations for husbands on a note with kiss stamps and tuck it in his pajama drawer. Other times I keep these prompts on my phone for when he feels very low.
Mental health is a real issue in our life and a bit of words of affirmation for mental health at the right moment can go a long way!
21. It makes me smile when you take care of…
22. I believe in you because…
23. God made you perfectly to fit with me.
24. I love how our differences work together, like when…
25. I’ve been thinking about you all day and I can’t wait to…
26. I respected you when you did…
27. I love our life together because you…
28. I noticed you’ve grown in the area of…
29. I trust you and will support you in…
30. You are a respectable man because…
Related Post: 46 Powerful Bible Verses About Suicide To Bring Hope
Spiritual Words of Encouragement for My Husband
As I stockpile affirmations for my husband, I’ve come to notice that bible words of affirmation go much farther than anything else.
Makes sense right? Because God’s Words never return void these are Christian words of affirmation that speak life into your man like nothing else ever could! These are Bible words of affirmation that I love to use for my husband!
Spiritual Words of Encouragement for Him from the Old Testament
31. God is going before you in this (Deuteronomy 31:8 NASB).
32. You do not have to be afraid, God will help you be strong and courageous (Joshua 1:9 NASB).
33. I believe God is leading you in His paths (Psalm 23:3 NASB).
34. Don’t lose heart, trust that God has goodness for you (Psalm 27:13-14 NASB).
35. Take refuge in God through this and see that He is good (Psalm 34:8 NASB).
36. You are not doing this alone, God is with you (Psalm 46:1 NASB).
37. God is your refuge and will give you strength for this battle (Psalm 46:1 NASB).
38. God forgives you (Psalm 103:12 NASB).
39. You have God’s strength with you, do not be afraid (Isaiah 41:10 NASB).
Spiritual Words of Encouragement for Him from the New Testament
And then there are some more words of affirmation for him from the New Testament!
40. You can take your burden to the Lord and find rest (Matthew 11:28-30 NASB).
41. God does not condemn us when we make mistakes (Romans 8:1 NASB).
42. Even though you feel weak or like a failure or less than others, God’s grace is enough, trust Him (2 Corinthians 12:9 NASB).
43. Even though this change is hard, you are living by faith in God just as Jesus did (Galatians 2:20 NASB).
44. You do not have to work hard to earn God’s love, He only asks for our faith (Ephesians 2:8-9 NASB).
45. The Lord created you for a purpose (Ephesians 2:10 NASB).
46. You are loved more than you can understand (Ephesians 3:18 NASB).
47. God has given you all you need to win this battle (Ephesians 6:11 NASB).
49. It is okay to have joy in this season (Philippians 4:4 NASB).
50. God will give you peace as you pray through this (Philippians 4:6-7 NASB).
51. The Lord will meet your needs (Philippians 4:19 NASB).
52. You can teach and speak truth into others’ lives, God has given you the Bible to help (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NASB).
53. God will give you wisdom for this (James 1:5 NASB).
54. Greater is He who is in you than He who is in the world (1 John 4:4 NASB).
Related Post: 31 Christian Affirmations Rooted in Scripture
Words of Affirmation Gift Ideas – The best Gift for Your Husband!
Would you like a done for you plan to use these words of affirmation for him? I gathered all the promptes and created 52 printable cards that are love affirmations for him – The best thing you can write or text or speak over your husband for the next year.
You can print them out, commit to pray over them, and give one per week to your husband for the next year.
Check out these Printable Words of Affirmation Cards in the HopeJoyInChrist Shop.
Words of affirmation gifts for him will build him up and create momentum for real change in his life! In fact, these are cards I use to build my own husband up. I go back to them every year to reprint and share – it never gets old.
Join The 30-Day Words of Affirmation for Men Marriage Challenge
The words of affirmation for men from the 5 love languages didn’t work for us initially because our marriage had deeper issues. The man concept of the love languages is solid, but respect and security were missing and we weren’t enjoying each other… so all those positive things and words of affirmation ideas couldn’t help.
The Lord worked hard to get through to me to do the work of healing the brokenness in myself and forgiving my husband.
Once that deeper heart work was done, things changed. Now I can easily use the words of affirmation (especially Biblical words of affirmation – godly words of affirmation for him) to show love to my husband daily.
Will you join me?
A 30-day words of affirmation marriage challenge is a great way to build him up and watch God use those words of life to create momentum in your marriage.
in HIS love,
Tiffany of Hope Joy in Christ inspires Christian Women to grow in faith, live out Biblical Marriage Principles and raise Godly Children. Join the Wives Only Facebook Group here or keep up with her through Pinterest.
If you enjoyed this you would also like these Posts:
Tiffany, lots of wisdom here and thank you for sharing your story and how God changed things in your marriage. God is so good to help us change our perspective and negative thinking oatterbs and it makes all the difference in the world!
awe, so glad it blessed you Leslie!
Love this post!! Our men need to know how much we value them. And the more we say it, the more we will realize what they do for us. It’s a win-win.
That is so true Heather!
I am so glad you posted all these positive affirmations for wives to say to their husbands. Having been married a long time (43 years), we have been through most of the ups and downs husbands and wives go through as they go through life. One of the best things I ever started doing was letting my husband know how much I love him, and how proud I was of him. I think husbands (for the most part) do rise to the affirmations given by their wives! God bless you and your work!
They really do! What a great testimony – 43 years! Wow, that is so rare. I’d love to know your best piece of advice for getting that far happily married!
I love this idea. Marriage is definitely hard work, and using tools like these are really helpful. Thank you for the free printable too!
So glad it blessed you Shann!
This was a great reminder for me – thank you for sharing (I just made sure to tell my hubs how grateful I am that he made dinner AND cleaned up)!
And cleaned up? Score!
I agree with you – respect is so important to my husband. Words of affirmation are definitely something I need to be doing every day. He really likes that I build him up as a good provider. That is important to him.
Providing is important for my man too. Love that AMy!
Words of Affirmation is my primary love language. Words, in general, don’t have power over me; but, the words of my husband can be powerful indeed.
Isn’t that interesting. His words can be so powerful!
This is such an interesting perspective. The Emerson quote is particularly powerful. It can be so easy to lose sight of the good when the monotony of everyday settles in. I love the idea of having a reset and working on reconnecting with what initially “sparked” the relationship.
So right Christa! thanks for commenting.
I really love this. Such a helpful way to encourage and respect your spouse.
Thanks for stopping by Mila! Praying over you today!
It is so easy to get busy with the day to day and forget show appreciation to one another. Communication and positivity are a marriage must!
They really are Megan!
Communication is key in a successful marriage 🙂 you’re really equipping your readers with such great skills for their relationships. Thanks for sharing your wisdom x x
It’s a blessing to serve other wives… to speak into the hard parts of Marriage and offer practical tools! THanks for the encouragement Homeymoon Backpackers!
It’s interesting that I found this post today. I was just telling a friend how we, as women, expect our husband’s to tell us nice things all the time but I realized that I don’t tell my husband enough how much I appreciate him and all that he does for our family.
I agree. It’s crazy I have to remind myself to affirm him but when we do it regularly… whew they flourish!
Am happy all of this has worked in your marriage and I pray it works in all of our marriages that are going through rough ends. I met my husband when I was 17years in my first year in the university and we dated consistently till we graduated got jobs and got married and 36years old. When I met him he could hardly afford to feed twice a day, my parents where civil servants so they could afford to take care of my basics so I didn’t depend on him for even a snack. Throughout our stay in the university he couldn’t afford to take me out for a meal yet I never complained. Fast forward to our marriage, when he is down financially I support him and cover him up even to our son, sometimes I will buy stuff for my son and tell him to tell his daddy thank you for getting them for him. I have a more secured job as a social worker in a government hospital while he is a development worker and their jobs are not stable. The contracts vary from two to five years and you are out of a job but when he gets a job he earns almost ten times what I earn, and that is where the trouble starts, he starts womanising, being mean and disrespectful to me. He was out of a job for almost two years, I did all I could to put the family together and he just recently got a new job and is yet to get his first paycheck, yet I just found out he is looking for an apartment to pay for his mistress, I confronted him and I could sense the uneasiness in his response, he didn’t outrightly deny it and couldn’t give me a straight forward response and unlike him and didn’t even flay up. Though since then he has been trying to stay home more but the pain in my heart is so intense, the betrayal has hurt so deep and struggling to pull myself out of this one. Am really struggling to initiate normal conversation, daily I ask God for the grace to forgive because I can’t do it on my own. I don’t even want to pretend am not hurt, I don’t want to act normal, am asking God for a gradual healing. I have read the book about Love and Respect, and I keep reading every material on godly marriage, I also try to domesticate it to my marriage but the devil keeps coming back, I have not stopped praying for my husband because I know my Lord will visit him, I just need your prayers to pull out of this one. Am also waiting on the Lord for a second child so everything is just so much for me right now. Please if you read this help me pray for my husband. God bless you
Kristy, my heart breaks over your situation. I will stand with you in prayer for healing and forgiveness but I also want to ask if he is being unfaithful. If he is, forgiving him and trying to restore your marriage will not work long term (forgiveness is wonderful but restoration can only happen after both are working to rebuild trust)… that is real hurt from real betrayal you are feeling. You can’t pray it away if it is continuing with no remorse or change in him. The hurt you feel is your body, heart, and souls way of pushing you to get help. A godly counselor would be the first step. Someone who is not associated with either of you to listen to you… Even if he won’t go to counseling with you – you go and get some good wise advice. Reach out anytime to talk or pray together – tiffanymontgomery at hopejoyinchrist dot com
Prayers needed please. I am a long way from any of this. 🙁
Covering you in prayer today, Renae. And I can so relate. Often I struggle to be able to give him the words He needs… Just know you are not alone. My prayer is that as you lean into God through this hard season He will comfort you and meet your needs so you can get to that place.