I’ve been married for over seven years.  And though that’s not an eternity, it’s long enough for me to be grateful that I still feel like I married the right guy. He still gets me. He still makes me laugh. He still supports my dreams. He still provides for us. I think I did pretty well.

I respect my husband, not just because he’s my husband and I love him, but also because he has earned my respect. Marrying me and loving me is not enough to earn my consistent respect. It’s honestly not enough for most people. It requires a lot more.

I often hear stories about men who are frustrated with the lack of respect they get from their wives. Now listen, I think some people are straight up disrespectful, no matter how you treat them, and they need to work through their own anger issues.

But I also think that some women are disrespectful because the men in their lives haven’t done much to earn respect.

The amount of respect you get in life is often directly related to how you behave. It doesn’t matter who you were when you got married. What matters is how you behave from day-to-day.

• Are you who you said you would be?
•  Are you who you truly want to be?
• Are you the person your wife deserves?
• Are you keeping your vows?

Great marriages may be built on love, but love alone does not sustain a marriage. A marriage with the potential to stand the test of time is one where both partners respect one another.

When a lack of respect is present, it starts to eat away at the foundation of a marriage and that can be very damaging.

Men, here are three reasons why you may not be getting the respect you want from your wife:

You are not taking care of your family

Although most minds will turn to whether or not a man is providing for his family financially, that’s not the only thing I’m referring to here.

Although men traditionally provide for their families financially, I think it’s okay for a man to stay at home and care for the children if his wife is able to meet the family’s financial needs on her own, and he is truly stepping up in the homemaker department.

For more reasons, check out the article on BlackandMarriedWithKids.com.