A happy wife for the New Year

^“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her (Ephesians 5:25)…”

One day in my English class we were discussing proverbs.  I mentioned the old American saying, “If mama ain’t happy, nobody’s happy” and explained it to my students. I asked them if they had any similar proverbs in their languages. One of my married female international students smiled and said, “Happy wife, happy life!” 

This student knew what she was talking about.  Her saying is echoed in Proverbs 31.  In this passage, some sayings of a fellow named King Lemuel are written down.  They were taught to him by his  mama.

His mama told him to watch out for loose women and stay away from booze.  She also advised Lemuel to care for the needy.   The epilogue to these proverbs  proclaims the virtues of the woman with noble character.  She is among other things a hard worker and a great businesswoman.  She also ministers to others (Proverbs 31:1-31). 

Is it possible,  in an age in which  women had little rights, that the noble wife was set up to succeed by a husband who saw his wife as someone who needed his love and care?  Perhaps he funded her business enterprises, and in doing so gave himself and his children a happy life and helped the woman fulfill her own ministry before God.

Too many of us Christian men have abdicated our responsibility to our wives. I am the first to admit my sins in this area.  I am working hard to correct this.  As another old saying goes, “Better late than never”.

What is it that we Christian men are doing or NOT doing?  First and foremost, we are not loving our wives.  The Scriptures tell us we are to model ourselves after God, who is the essence of love (Ephesians 5:1).  Instead we get involved in immoral behavior, and lead our wives down the primrose path to destruction in the process. 

Many Christian men today are no different than their counterparts who not profess Christ.  They mess around with sex , wrongly handle money and drink like fishes.  The author of Ephesians warns that we Christian men have come out of that dark lifestyle and that  if we follow Christ we should have nothing more to do with it (Ephesians 5:8).

Is it any wonder a lot of women have had it with men? Did you ever wonder why the Bible tells men to love their wives, but for the women to to respect their husbands (Ephesians 5:33)?  Maybe it’s because so many men are not worthy of respect.

Sure, women are sinners too.  But Christian men are accountable to God for leading their wives, especially in their relationship with God.  Instead of being the agents of the sins of our wives, we Christian men ought to be the reason why they are walking with God.

A great New Year’s resolution is to make the success of our wives a priority. We should spend our time over the holiday thinking about how to do that instead of getting soused or doing online trading.