Living with a difficult wife (19:13; 21:19; 25:24) is a constant theme in Proverbs – because the book is guy talk, father to son! But the opposite could also be said and would be just as true. Women can say the same thing about us men.
As we read through Proverbs in class here at HUM, guys love to reference one of these “difficult wife” verses and we all have fun with it. But then I like to ask the question – how did a guy ever marry a women as nasty as she is described? Do you suppose he said, “Man, is she ever mean. I think I’ll marry her!”
It is possible that he really didn’t know her very well or that she deliberately hid her negative nasty ways from him. I’m sure that happens.
But, based on all I know about us guys, I bet she wasn’t this difficult woman when we married her. So how did she get that way?
Inevitably, one guy in the room will then say, “she got that way by being married to me!” I think that is probably true. She may be pretty nasty today, but that happened over the years she spent living with us.
Admittedly, she didn’t have to stoop to our level, but she often do. So, at that point it might be better to do as this proverb says, and stay out of her way!
Yet, the best thing for me to do is work on myself and make some personal changes. And just like we affected her so negatively in the past, we can now begin to make a positive impact on her today.