A Word to Wives

Wives need love, and husbands need respect. That isn’t to say that wives don’t need respect and husbands don’t need love. But it is to say that Ephesians 5:33 specifically tells a husband to love his wife and a wife to respect her husband.

Does your husband know that you respect him? In his excellent book called Love and Respect, Dr. Emerson Eggerichs wrote, “When a husband feels disrespected, it is especially hard to love his wife. When a wife feels unloved, it is especially hard to respect her husband.”

When a husband feels disrespected, he has a natural tendency to react in ways that seem unloving to his wife. And when a wife feels unloved, she has a natural tendency to react in ways that feel disrespectful to her husband. So wives, show respect. Let your husband know that you appreciate what he does.

He works hard, takes care of you, and provides for you. Never put down your husband in front of other people. I’ve seen wives do this. Don’t do that to your husband. Talk about the things he does for you. Find those good things.

Maybe he’s not the perfect husband, but who is? Maybe he doesn’t do everything you want him to do. Find the good things that he does and affirm him in those.

In many ways, marriage is a way that we learn to understand the gospel, because when you marry someone, you realize what a sinner you are and what a sinner he or she is. You have to deal with conflict because you’re both helplessly human.

The Bible tells us that “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8 NKJV). Marriage is a picture of Christ and the church.