Creative Counterpart Quotes

“One of the biggest and most common mistakes a woman makes is to substitute activity for God for a relationship with Him.”
― Linda Dillow, Creative Counterpart : Becoming the Woman, Wife, and Mother You Have Longed To Be

“Many neighborhood conflicts have their roots in trivial little insults made by one neighbor, which result in returned insults from the other neighbor. An insult-for-insult relationship develops, and all other avenues for friendship and communication disappear.”
― Linda Dillow, Creative Counterpart : Becoming the Woman, Wife, and Mother You Have Longed To Be

“You Set The Pace

Because of the woman she was, our friend in Proverbs 31 had a home that exuded a good atmosphere, making it a place people wanted to frequent. Every home has an atmosphere. Maybe you don’t know what the atmosphere of your home is, but there are some who do – the people who frequent it. How would you describe the atmosphere in your home? Pick an adjective: Warm, peaceful, loving, cheerful, united? How about anxious, bitter, contentious, or frustrated?
It is the woman in each home who creates the atmosphere. She is like the hub of the wheel around which the home revolves. Have you ever noticed how quickly your husband and children pick up your moods? When you’re grumpy, your husband seems to come home grumpy, too, and your children pick up that mood the second they come in from school. Then you wonder what is the matter with them!
Try it tonight. An experiment in terror. Be a real first-class Oscar the Grouch at dinnertime, and see how long it takes the others to follow suit. Better yet, be the woman God wants you to be, and see how fast they respond positively!”
― Linda Dillow, Creative Counterpart : Becoming the Woman, Wife, and Mother You Have Longed To Be

“Priorities:

Priority #1: God
The relationship with God must come first. Why? Because we need God's perspective in every area of our lives. ...

Priority #2: Husband
Solomon said, "A worthy wife is her husband's joy and crown; the other kind corrodes his strength and tears down everything he does" (Proverbs 12:4) ...

Priority #3: Children
See Bible verses about child rearing. ...

Priority #4: Home
Proverbs 31:27
The virtuous wife in Proverbs 31 seems to have been a very neat, tidy housekeeper. It seems to come naturally to some people, but I'm not one of them.

Priority #5: Yourself
Everyone needs time alone - time to read, to indulge in a hobby, or just to do nothing. Evaluate your weekly schedule and plan into it time for yourself. ...

Priority #6: Outside The Home
I was sharing my excitement about the priorities of a woman's life with a group of women in upstate New York, and one woman said, "Linda, I cannot believe what you are saying. I know that you believe in the Great Commission, to go into the world and preach the gospel, was given to women as well as to men, yet you are saying that our service for Christ is at the end of the list. Since I became a Christian two years ago, my service to the Lord has been first!"
I smiled and told her I'd like to ask her husband how he liked that!
When my children were very young, I decided before God to keep my priorities in the order I've shared. I still re-evaluate where I spend my time and seek to keep God first, Husband second, my children third, my home fourth, me fifth, and my outside activities sixth.”
― Linda Dillow, Creative Counterpart : Becoming the Woman, Wife, and Mother You Have Longed To Be

“Trustworthy, industrious, faithful, charitable, strong, wise, cautious, compassionate, generous, kind ... that's the scriptural definition of a good wife - a creative counterpart.
"A creative counterpart is a woman, who, having chosen the vocation of wife and mother, decides to learn and grow in all of areas of this role and work as though she were aiming for the presidency of a corporation.”
― Linda Dillow, Creative Counterpart : Becoming the Woman, Wife, and Mother You Have Longed To Be

“A Real Beauty: We read in 1 Peter 3 that a woman should have the "incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God" (verse 4). The Greek word for "Precious" is used two other times in 1 Peter. First, the shed blood of Jesus Christ is precious ( verse 1:19), and second, He is the precious cornerstone of our faith ( verse 2:6). The third time it is in reference to a godly, submissive woman. God says we, too, can be precious as the Lord Jesus is. A calm, gentle, submissive spirit is rare and costly and of great worth to God. If you have ever met a woman such as this, you have not forgotten her. She is precious to God, a glory to her husband, and a joy to be around!”
― Linda Dillow, Creative Counterpart : Becoming the Woman, Wife, and Mother You Have Longed To Be

“Today wife-abuse is a common occurrence and, sadly, is seen sometimes in Christian marriages. Submission does not mean allowing another person to batter us, whether it battering is physical, verbal or emotional.”
― Linda Dillow, Creative Counterpart : Becoming the Woman, Wife, and Mother You Have Longed To Be

“When Can A Wife Disobey?"
When a husband asks his wife to do something directly contrary to Scripture.”
― Linda Dillow, Creative Counterpart : Becoming the Woman, Wife, and Mother You Have Longed To Be

“The role of helpmate indicates not a status of inferiority but a functional difference. The Wife is in submission to her husband in the same way Christ is in submission to the Father. Yet Christ and the Father are equal and one! There cannot be two leaders. The purpose is functional teamwork that allows two people to complement each other each other, not compete with each other, in life.”
― Linda Dillow, Creative Counterpart : Becoming the Woman, Wife, and Mother You Have Longed To Be

“God's plan for marital happiness involves a "spiritual head" and a "Creative Counterpart". Instead of competing with each other as in Plan A and complaining to each other as in Plan B, God's man and God's woman "complete" each other.
... She is submissive, but strives to be capable, intelligent, industrious, organized, efficient, warm, tender, gracious -- all virtues we saw in the beautiful blueprint in Proverbs 31. She is not the President like in Plan A or the housekeeper in Plan B but the Executive Vice President. Key Word: Complete.”
― Linda Dillow, Creative Counterpart : Becoming the Woman, Wife, and Mother You Have Longed To Be

“Take a sheet of paper, and write down every quality you can admire about your husband. List physical qualities, then emotional, intellectual, and spiritual ones.
Now that you know your husband's admirable qualities, why keep them to yourself? It's good to admire your husband secretly, but how much better to admire him actively! ... No excuses. You've made your list and have lots of admirable qualities to choose from. Now it's simply a matter of opening your mouth and saying what you know to be true. You may find it awkward at first, but do it anyway.”
― Linda Dillow, Creative Counterpart : Becoming the Woman, Wife, and Mother You Have Longed To Be

“What do you communicate to your husband? One wife put it like this: "I told God about his bad points, and I told him about his good points.”
― Linda Dillow, Creative Counterpart : Becoming the Woman, Wife, and Mother You Have Longed To Be

“Do you build up or do you destroy? What do you communicate to your husband when he walks in the door after work? Genuine encouragement, or dissatisfaction? Does your face light up when he talks to you, or does he see sneers and a lack of trust? A man can have everything outside of the home, but if the sincere respect of his wife and children is missing, he can be totally emasculated.”
― Linda Dillow, Creative Counterpart : Becoming the Woman, Wife, and Mother You Have Longed To Be

“I encourage you to do this exercise. Do it now. Get out a piece of paper and make your (2) columns. List your husband's faults and as many of your wrong responses as you can think of. You'll be surprised that your responses are as bad or worse than his faults. After you have finished, confess your wrong attitudes to God and burn the paper. Definitely do not show it to your husband. This exercise is for your benefit - to help you get the plank out of your own eye!”
― Linda Dillow, Creative Counterpart : Becoming the Woman, Wife, and Mother You Have Longed To Be

“Not only are many neighborhood conflicts characterized by this insult-for-insult relationship, but many marriages, unfortunately, fall into the same trap.
In the chapter on unconditional acceptance, I suggested an exercise in which you divide a sheet of paper into 2 columns and then note your mate's weaknesses in the right-hand column.”
― Linda Dillow, Creative Counterpart : Becoming the Woman, Wife, and Mother You Have Longed To Be

“Let's look at one such creative counterpart described many years ago in the book of Proverbs. There are many outstanding, godly women mentioned throughout the Bible, but this woman received special praise: "Many daughters have done well, But you excel them all" (Proverbs 31:29). Who was this woman who did more than Deborah, the military adviser, or Ruth, the woman of constancy, or Esther, the queen who risked her life for her people? She was a wife and mother like you and me!”
― Linda Dillow, Creative Counterpart : Becoming the Woman, Wife, and Mother You Have Longed To Be

“We have been conditioned by today's advertising to respond instantly to the word "housewife" with the word "drudgery". ... A creative Counterpart is more than just a helper. She is a woman who having chosen (or have found herself in) the vocation of wife and mother, decides to learn and grow in all the areas this role and to work as hard as if she were aiming for the presidency of corporation. Functioning as a professional in all areas of marriage is the essence of being a creative counterpart.”
― Linda Dillow, Creative Counterpart : Becoming the Woman, Wife, and Mother You Have Longed To Be