Marriage Faults That Never Change

When we think about advice from the Bible, it can be easy to put it down as another time, another viewpoint. We may think of it as good for sheep herders and those not familiar to life in our modern society, however if we look at advice from Peter, Jesus’ key disciple, about marriage, we can be in for a surprise. In 1 Peter 3, Peter gives advice to wives and husbands that could be mistaken as something written by a modern shrink. Here’s what he says:
For wives: Avoid being overly critical, avoid being too much into outward looks
For husbands: Be respectful to your wives, value them as friends
In our modern society, for women the context might be worrying about small things and spending too much on clothes. For men, the context might be being good fans to our wives’ concerns and sharing with our wives. All the same, the value is striking.
What does this mean to you and me?
I would say it’s doubly important to listen to what Peter had to say if we are married or considering marriage. For wives, try to balance negatives regarding your spouse with positives. I belong to a Toastmasters club and we have what is called the “sandwich technique” in giving reviews. We try to say something positive, provide idea for progress and end with saying a positive. Husbands enjoy that type of thing from their wives. Also for wives, discuss your budgets for things like clothes and jewelry with your husband to see what seems right for both of you.
Now for men, I know how easy it is to be self-centered with our interests and hobbies, but we should find time with our wives as well for a balanced strategy. Also, we need to think about what is of interest to our wives and how we can share in those things with them. For example, my wife is in to bird watching which I could care less for. However I have made an attempt to learn more about birds and try to see what she finds thrilling about them. One thing I learned was that a reason she found birds interesting was their unique habits...read more at>>>>>..Marriage Faults That Never Change