The weaker partner

After God created Adam, He said, "It is not good for a man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." (Genesis 2:18). Taking a rib from the man, God created a woman. Adam called her "bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh" and gave her the name Eve (Genesis 2:23). Thus she became the first wife. This accolade was short-lived, however. After eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Adam blamed it on his wife, who tried to shift the blame to the snake. As punishment, Adam was to toil the soil all his life and Eve was to be ruled by her husband. Thus began the often uneasy relationship between the husband and wife. Even though the spousal relationship was meant to foreshadow the relationship between Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:25-33), husbands have never really loved their wives as Christ loves the church. Nor have wives respected their husbands as the church would look up to Christ.

Yet it is in the self-interest of the husband to love his wife. First, the wife is really the bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh. Loving her is the same as loving himself (Ephesians 5:28, 33). As the weaker part of his body, she is indispensable (I Corinthians 12:22). Without her, he is not whole. With her glorified and beautified, he is honored. A wife of noble character is her husband's crown (Proverbs 12:4).

Second, the husband's physical well-being depends on his wife. The husband and the wife really belong to each other. "The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer." (I Corinthians 7:4-5). The pleasure and joy of the earthly life depends on a harmonious relationship between the two. The husband is to "rejoice in the wife of (his) youth" (Proverbs 5:18).

Third and perhaps most importantly, the spiritual well-being of the husband depends on how considerate and respectful he is towards his "weaker partner". Without that, his prayers will be hindered (I Peter 3:7). Without a healthy relationship with his wife, his channel of communication with God is blocked. His prayers would not be answered. God emphasizes sound earthly family relationships, in order to have a sound heavenly family relationship. One is not excused from having to honor his parents, even for a "devotion" to God (Mark 7:9-13). Anyone who does not love his brother cannot love God, either (I John 4:20-21, I John 3:10). Likewise, anyone who does not take care of his wife will be hindered from praying to the Lord.

God has given my wife to me as a weaker partner to protect and to cherish, to keep as my fountain of joy from the youth (Proberbs 5:18), to remember Christ's love of the church by, and not to be alone without in my journey to the heavenly home. She is worth far more than rubies (Proverbs 31:10), because she is a gift from the Lord (Proverbs 19:14). Amen.