Following up on my “Submit to Your Husband” article….

Although many men like to remember only the command to wives submit to their husbands, Peter and Paul made sure to round out their teaching to include husbands as well.

1 Peter 3:7 tells husbands to be considerate as they live with their wives. He says to treat them with respect as the weaker* partner and as co-recipients of God’s gift of eternal life. At the end of this verse, Peter adds a note of warning to husbands – “so that nothing will hinder your prayers” God’s most precious gift to a man is his wife. It seems that if a man fails to appreciate or mistreats that gift, God won’t hear his prayers.

*When Peter calls women the weaker partner, he doesn’t imply moral or intellectual inferiority. Woman in his day were vulnerable to attack, abuse and financial disaster. Women may have an easier life today but they are still vulnerable as they are physically weaker and in the work place many still earn considerably less than their male counterpart.

Paul describes a holy union in his letter to the Ephesians. He says that a husband and wife become one flesh. Ephesians 5 tells husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church. To Jesus, the church is precious. He suffered and died for her. A husband is to love his wife as he loves his own body. Feeding her and caring for her just as he cares for himself.

So husbands, understand and be considerate of your wives’ spiritual, emotional and physical needs.

How should you love your wife? Be willing to sacrifice everything for her. Give up the game to take her to her friend's cookout. Make her well-being your primary concern. Help with dinner when you both have worked all day or even if she has been home with the kids all day. Care for her as you care for yourself. Make sure that she has quiet time for herself.

With this kind of love, what wife would hesitate to submit?


The Power of a Praying Husband
at Amazon