Sometimes when presenting the responsibilities of a husband, some men will counter,

“Well, that’s all well and good for those blessed with godly wives. But, you don’t know how difficult my wife is.”

Let’s say for a moment that a husband has a wife that has serious brokenness: emotional, physical, mental, spiritual. Does this seeming deficiency in her somehow negate the husband’s own responsibilities? Should she be neglected because of her brokenness? Should she be abandoned because of her problems and struggles? Or, should her life be made so much more miserable by her husband that she will be forced to leave; or, her life made so much more unhappy and depressed that she insists that he leave?

Do not even extremely broken women still deserve to be loved and cherished? Who better than a godly, righteous man to do so? Is it not an honor and a privilege to express to her the unending, unwavering love, grace, patience (longsuffering), gentleness and kindness of Christ?

Love never fails (I Corinthians 13:8).

C2Pilkington-4Clyde L. Pilkington, Jr.
(Excerpted from his upcoming book, Wife Loving)