Biblical Manhood Loving Your Wife - Part 3

There are two additional issues related to loving your wife in a biblical manner. In Colossians 3:19 we are told to love our wife and not to be bitter against her. Nowhere is the wife directly told not to be bitter against her husband. Obviously bitterness against others is not right, but I take it from this passage that men are more prone to bitterness than women in the marriage relationship.

There is a tendency for men to believe that women should think like they do. The reality is that men and women think differently about virtually everything. When a man doesn’t understand his wife’s thinking and behavior, he can become bitter. When she doesn’t adopt his frame of reference, he can misunderstand what’s going on and become bitter. This passage is a warning to make sure we are alert to the root of bitterness that may grow. Hebrews 12:14, 15 tells us to seek peace with everyone and to be careful about a root of bitterness growing. This would be especially true in the marriage relationship.

We’ll look at the second issue next time.