The Biblical Role of a Wife (Part 2)
The idea of being a biblical wife sounds great if you’re engaged or maybe newly married. But if you’ve been married for some time now, you’re might not be too excited about this God-honoring pursuit.
Most women I meet have no problem becoming a biblical mom, but to pursue what the Bible says about wifehood is not something we naturally gravitate to. After all, living with a sin-filled man can be quite difficult!
Yet, this position is vital to a thriving marriage and family. If the role of a wife gets neglected, it won’t take long for the family to crumble.
It saddens me to see so much emphasis placed on the various roles a woman hold’s, i.e. mom, business owner, student, woman in ministry and the likes. You’ll find Mops groups for the young mamas, conferences for Christian moms, women entrepreneurs, women in ministry, homemakers, and women in general, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find a conference, workshop, seminar, or small group that encourages and equips women to grow in their role as a biblical wife.
God’s plan for wifehood is good and beautiful and we need to learn and embrace His plan.
For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures. Romans 15:4
We’re back in our series, The Foundations of a Biblical Marriage & Family, and today we’re following up with Part 2 of The Biblical Role of a Wife. If you missed Part 1, you can catch it here.
Watch our video.
Or click to listen to our podcast.
The Foundations of a Biblical Marriage & Family Series:
What Kind of Marriage Are You Building?
The Biblical Role of a Husband (Part 1)
The Biblical Role of a Husband (Part 2)
The Biblical Role of a Wife (Part 1)
Live a poured out life for Christ,
Jolene Engle
Hey Eric and Jolene,
I enjoy your podcasts and have just finished listening to Part 2 of the biblical wife. You had a technical difficulty which caused a cut out right at the end. Otherwise great.
One thing I do have to ask the both of you about a wife working rather than the husband. What happens if the husband has a traumatic brain injury and cannot work or collects disability but cannot work to support the extra money needed to make the basics happen? Or if the husband had an accident and was paralyzed from neck down? If a man is paralyzed from the waist down, he can find a desk type job or accommodations that would allow him to work. I am not being contentious but am respectfully asking your opinion. I am educated with an MA in counseling. I have strong earning potential but since graduating from grad school, I have had multiple issues of endocrine problems, still not resolved for the last 20 years. If one of those scenarios were my husband and I was not battling chronic illness, would me taking the role to work be wrong to help the family. By the way, we do not have children and have been together 35 plus years. What are your thoughts?
In Christian love,
Anna
Hi Anna,
Hmm, not sure why the tech problem. Sorry about that. In regards to working, every wife’s life will look different depending on how much she’s got on her plate. A wife with babies and toddlers will find it hard to add one more thing to her life. As opposed to a wife whose kids are grown. My boys are now 16 and 17 and I have much more free time on my hands than when they were 1 and 2. A wife with no kids won’t have the pressures and demands that a wife with 2, 4 or 6 kids have. Managing the home and raising up godly offspring is what God wants from a wife and mom (and dad). This all looks different based on how much she has to manage at home. When there is less to manage at home, a wife will have more time for outside pursuits (like a career). If the husband and wife make the decision for the wife to work (which is her being a helper to him) then they also need to make some choices to have help in the home. Managing a home requires work. (As does raising kids.) A home needs management and tending to. Someone has to do it. For people to think that a woman can effortlessly work full time, manage a home, raise kids, and tend to her marital relationship all with a sweet and loving countenance, they are sure asking a lot. But again, each family unit will be different based on kids or no kids and based on the ages of the kids.
I hope this helps.