“The Gift of a Wife”

(for us, Gentlemen)

     As referenced yesterday, I find interesting Adam’s response to God’s gift to him of Eve.

     “And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man” (Genesis 2:23).

     Note the lack of gratitude, and the focus not on God, but on himself.  This occured before Adam sinned, of course, and the point we made yesterday is that we may see in Adam’s neglect the susceptibility to temptation that would later result in direct disobedience to God’s command.

     For husbands, our original forefather’s experience presents a vital lesson regarding our attitude toward both God and our wives.

     “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favor of the Lord” (Proverbs 18:22).

     “Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them” (Colossians 3:19).

    If wives are gifts of God, as Solomon declares, the natural response of husbands must involve an ongoing attitude of gratitude.  Unlike Adam, the believing husband seeks to remember and give thanks for the qualities and actions of his wife that bless him.  This counters any temptation to bitterness because gratitude and resentment cannot co-exist in the human heart. 

     Cultivating and maintaining thanksgiving for our wives greatly blesses both them and the God who gave them to us.  Our own hearts are also greatly benefitted because “he that loveth his wife loveth himself” (Ephesians 5:28).  The believing husband who bears such an attitude, as wrought by the indwelling Holy Spirit, reveals the love of Christ in a sublime and sanctifying way (for his wife and for himself).  He also greatly honors the Lord Jesus, that great Husband of the church who looks toward His Father with much gratitude for the gift we are to Him…

“Behold I and the children which God hath given Me.”
(Hebrews 2:13)