Wife

<<man’s marriage partner>>

While single women (and men) can often live lives of more devotion to the Lord, Paul said marriage is an alternative which guards against immorality, but this also brings troubles including the conflict of devotion because of responsibilities to the spouse (1 Cor 7:1,2,28,32-35). A widow obviously becomes free from the restrictions of marriage when her husband dies (Rom 7:3; 1 Cor 7:39). God’s ideal is for the marriage to be dissolved only at the death of one partner, yet the commitment is easily broken by divorce, often resulting from incompatibility. Relationship issues should be worked through rather than taking the quick option to dissolve a marriage – the marriage will be strengthened by doing so. Both husband and wife should guard the exclusiveness of their sacred covenant, keeping the fires of romance burning and protecting each other from moral compromise (Mt 19:3-9; Heb 13:4). Sexual activity is much more than just a physical expression, as it also has spiritual implications, with God severely judging all unlawful sexual behaviour (1 Cor 6:9,13-20; Rev 9:21, 21:8, 22:15). There is to be a bonding between husband and wife with this relationship taking precedent over any other human associations (Gen 2:24). A key role of godly wives is to love their husbands and teach other women to do the same (Tit 2:3-5).

The Bible says, “He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favour from the Lord” (Prov 18:22, 19:14). A wife of honourable character is her husband’s delight as she is positively involved in all she turns her hand to (Prov 12:4, 31:10-31). In the OT although it was common for men to have

Am I being the best wife I can be to my husband?

more than one wife, it was never God’s idea. Solomon’s having multiple wives led to his downfall (Gen 4:19; Ex 21:10,11; Deut 17:17; 1 Kgs 11:3,4).

Both men and women have differing roles in life through which each should endeavour to be the best expression of Christ’s nature they can. The divine instruction is for the wife to be in submission to the husband (as in turn he

Do I love my wife as Christ loves me?

is under God’s authority and demonstrates ongoing love to his spouse) while living out the inner beauty of their faith together as a team (Eph 5:22-33; Col 3:18,19; 1 Pet 3:1-7). Submission is an attitude and should be a pattern of behaviour as this is how God designed the marital relationship to function yet does not infer inferiority or lesser worth. Although women are termed the ‘weaker sex’ in physical strength, often they are stronger in other dimensions that constitute the total personality, especially in the spiritual realm.