– Deuteronomy 24:5

If you really want to know about a man and what kind of character he has, you need only look at the countenance of his wife. Everything he has invested, or withheld, will be there.

That was the message Bill McCartney, then head coach of the University of Colorado football team, heard in a 1994 sermon. The words cut straight to his heart. McCartney had built the Colorado football program into a powerhouse that won a national championship in 1990. He had also cofounded a national men’s movement, Promise Keepers. 

But those achievements came at a price. For years McCartney had withheld his time and energy from his wife, Lyndi, and their four children. 

In 1994, Bill McCartney didn’t like what he saw in Lyndi’s countenance—so he resigned his position at Colorado to devote more time to his wife and family.

As a husband, you bear the primary responsibility for your wife’s welfare and emotional wellbeing. What do you see in her face tonight?

From Dr. Dobson’s book, Night Light for Couples.