Monday, October 20, 2014

Why Do You Want to Stay Mad at Your Husband?


Do you know that if you are continually angry with your husband, you are living in sin? The majority of women I have mentored are continually mad at their husbands. If you are one of them, honestly ask yourself why this is so. "Why am I always angry with my husband?" I have a few theories, since I was a pro at it for MANY years! 

It was a manipulation tactic I used to try and get Ken to do what I wanted him to do. It was used as a way to CONTROL him. Sometimes I used it because I wanted him to apologize and tell me he was sorry since arguments were always his fault, in my prideful mind. Still, it was just another way to try and control him. When he forgets your birthday, says the wrong thing, doesn't pick up after himself, watches too much television, isn't sensitive enough to your feelings, etc. and you get angry with him, you are using your anger to try and get him to behave the way you think he should behave. You gain NOTHING good by staying angry with him and only lose any relationship you hope to have with him. The only thing you gain is a foothold by Satan into your life. Your life will never experience God's blessings if you continue to live in sin by being angry with your husband.

Anger is NOT good. There are numerous Bible verses against being angry ~ 

But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, 
blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
Colossians 3:8

A fool gives full vent to his anger, 
but a wise man keeps himself under control. 
Proverbs 29:11

Instead of being angry, we are called to forgive freely, not be easily offended and love earnestly. This includes our husbands. Being upset and angry with him all the time IS sin, even if what you are angry about is his sin but it will NEVER lead to a better marriage. Anger towards your husband pushes him away from you and will never draw him to you. It builds a huge wall between the two of you that just gets wider and wider as anger and bitterness takes root.

You will NEVER win your husband by being angry at him. You win him without a word by godly behavior and freely forgiving him which is much harder to do than holding onto your anger. Always being angry is completely opposite of being godly. We are not suppose to try to control our husbands through any manipulation tactics. Nowhere in the Bible does it tell us to do this. It tells us to love, submit to, obey, please, and respect our husbands, NOT be angry with them. Yes, confront them in their sin but then let go of the anger.

Admit your sin to your husband. Ask him for forgiveness. We are called to forgive 70 X 7 times, regardless of his sin since Jesus forgave us for every sin we ever committed or ever will commit. Win him with your forgiving and forbearing spirit. In this way, you are preaching the Gospel to a lost generation. "Oh my, how she loves her husband, even in spite of his sin!"

Besides, a huge part of "loving your children" is providing a peaceful home for them. Tension and conflict produce fear in children. "Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and turmoil with it." Do everything in YOUR power to be at peace with your husband and stop living in sin.

Be gentle and forbearing with one another and, if one has a difference {a grievance or complaint} against another, readily pardoning each other; even as the Lord has freely forgiven you, so must you also forgive. 
Colossians 3:13

Comments (21)

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I agree with almost everything in your post.

Constant anger is destructive. It often says far more about us than it does about the object of our anger. It also tends to hurt us more. The object of our anger can ignore us, but we can't ignore the constant bitterness in ourselves. It can even trigger physical health problems.

The one sentence that gave me pause was "In this way, you are preaching the Gospel to a lost generation. "Oh my, how she loves her husband, even in spite of his sin!" "

I wouldn't want to see any wife take a prideful attitude with this, still thinking of her husband as a sinner and considering herself as some Godly martyr for not complaining.

I'd rather see a transformation in her heart and her whole view toward him. Before complaining, every wife should review their husband's good qualities. If I say: "My husband - who works hard every day to provide for us and go the extra mile for his patients and who constantly focuses on how to save lives, and who still manages to be totally devoted to his family even if it means getting up at 5 am so that he has time to exercise and go to the hospital before the office so that he can be home on time to coach hockey and help with homework - tends to leave wet towels on the floor", it puts things into perspective. Many things that can drive us crazy are honestly so minor in the grand scheme of things. We can train ourselves to see our husbands for their wonderful qualities instead of their negative ones.

For things are are more serious and actually sinful (I don't regard wet towels on floors or failing to eat veggies as sins), yes, we can recognize that our husband's may commit sins, but that this doesn't need to define them. We also commit sins. We can see that someone is more than the sum of their sins. Yes, those sins need to be addressed, as they cause harm and interfere with someone's ability to truly connect with God, but we can realize that behind those sins is a holy soul that longs for that connection to God.
6 replies · active 544 weeks ago
"In this way, you are preaching the Gospel to a lost generation. "Oh my, how she loves her husband, even in spite of his sin!" " This has nothing to do with a wife's prideful attitude. It is what others will say about her when they see her living a life of love and forgiveness in spite of the way her husband lives, even if he is living in sin. She is not the one thinking or saying this but when we live lives that are defined as loving others and full of grace and mercy towards others, we are preaching the Gospel to others, including the ones who are in sin. Whenever we walk in obedience to the Lord we are preaching the Gospel, for our actions are much louder and noticeable than our words.
I suppose there could be times when someone might notice that I don't react to something that might have set them off. I know I was inspired once by someone who welcomed everyone into his congregation and displayed unconditional love and acceptance. It was a downtown congregation that included some folks that were homeless, some struggling with alcoholism, some struggling with mental health, etc. but he never looked down on anyone and treated everyone with respect. That made an impression on me.

In general, though, I don't want others to look at me and think that I'm great despite my husband's sin. I see part of my role as respecting my husband and helping to get others to view him with respect.
The Bible says that when we live in obedience to the Word we adorn the Gospel and when we live in disobedience, we blaspheme His Word so people will notice whether we like it or not. We either preach the Gospel with our lives or we don't and people should be able to look at us and see Jesus' love, forgiveness, grace and mercy living in and through us.
"We either preach the Gospel with our lives..."

Good wording, Lori!
Lady Virtue's avatar

Lady Virtue · 544 weeks ago

Before complaining, every wife should review their husband's good qualities. If I say: "My husband - who works hard every day to provide for us and go the extra mile for his patients and who constantly focuses on how to save lives, and who still manages to be totally devoted to his family even if it means getting up at 5 am so that he has time to exercise and go to the hospital before the office so that he can be home on time to coach hockey and help with homework - tends to leave wet towels on the floor," it puts things into perspective. Many things that can drive us crazy are honestly so minor in the grand scheme of things. We can train ourselves to see our husbands for their wonderful qualities instead of their negative ones."
Cynthia, this part of your post really resonated with me. It's so easy for me to focus on the things about my husband that annoy me or irritate me. I really do need to be thankful for what I have in him--starting with the fact that he married me! I can't see myself objectively, but I know it surely isn't easy to get along with me or forbear with me sometimes.
What a great way to see my husband when I get irritated. I will use this exercise. See him in his good qualities first before seeing the negative. Thanks.
think this is something we all can struggle with from time to time. Putting your pride aside and not letting your wife or husband control your feelings. I sometimes have a hard time letting go when i get mad at my wife, and i know she also struggles with that. If my wife is in a grumpy mood it tends to make me grumpy, which i know is wrong is petty. The more we can hold each other accountable, the better the marriage will be.
I am sure every wife can say, husband could do more dishes, help more with kids etc. and every husband could say i wish wife would be pleasant and not so grouchy.
But we need to STOP putting expectations on how our spouses should behave and more on our own behaviour!!!!!! If we can do that then there maybe more happiness and not so much petty anger towards our spouse!!!!
1 reply · active 544 weeks ago
Amen! Thank you, Rob.
Lady_Virtue's avatar

Lady_Virtue · 544 weeks ago

Another timely and relevant post, Lori. Thank you for letting the Lord use you to teach young (and middle-aged, lol) women!
1 reply · active 544 weeks ago
Thank you, Lady Virtue. I love being used by the Lord!
Anger is something I have always struggled with. I am much better at recognizing it and managing it than I was before, with God's help. I've been working on memorizing several Bible passages that I repeat to myself when I'm starting to feel irritated, and pray along with it. This has helped me tremendously!! Especially to control my tongue. I am constantly amazed that my husband never gets angry, and sometimes I feel almost jealous that he doesn't struggle like I do with that area.

I just picked up Debi Pearl's, "Created to be his Help Meet" and am so excited to begin! I followed her advice in writing down ten things I wanted to see change in our marraige. Other than that, do you recommend just reading bit by bit and taking baby steps? Or just diving into it? Sometimes I try to improve on too many things at once and end up feeling overwhelmed.
1 reply · active 544 weeks ago
Yes, we need to learn to be gracious women of God who choose to clothe ourselves in forgiveness, compassion and kindness for this is what the Lord asks of us. Have a yellow highlighter ready and read a chapter at a time, highlighting anything that really stands out to you that you want to remember. I have read her book many times since it is what I use to mentor women and am still convicted every time I read it. After you've read it, mentor another woman with it. It is a great way to learn and be held accountable!
Thank you! I will do that. Just by skimming through the book, I think I am going to be convicted a lot. That is how I read my Bible too, a chapter a day with my highlighters. I am still young myself with a little girl at home and I want to be a good example to her. I am much better at submitting now, but there are times my heart and attitude don't match my actions. So I'm hoping this book helps me with that. At first I thought it would be a sprint improving myself and my marraige, now I would call it a marathon! As soon as I improve on one area, God shows me another to work on. I really admire you for sharing your wisdom with young moms and wives like me and only hope to be there one day myself.
1 reply · active 544 weeks ago
Yes, we are commanded to grow in the wisdom and the knowledge of the Lord and growing usually is not a speedy process! Oh, and thank you, Katie. You WILL be there one day for with God ALL things are possible!
Great reminder! It's way too easy to make little things into big ones. And to let that turn to anger and resentment. We need God always, but especially when our flesh is weak. This world, and even the blogging world, has us turning to modern ideas rather than the Word of God. We need to seek God's ways to check our actions and motives. Thanks again. Blessings, Terry
1 reply · active 544 weeks ago
Yes, the Word is the only place where we should go to measure our actions and the way we live our lives with! For in IT is life.
Thanks for another great post! I'm always working on this.
1 reply · active 544 weeks ago
We all our, Deb. We are a work in progress and hopefully, we are allowing the Lord to work mightily within us!
A Devoted Wife's avatar

A Devoted Wife · 544 weeks ago

I love the Lord and constantly always strive to live my life to give him glory. My husband struggles with an addiction and he leaves the children and I at home often and sometimes does not return till very early morning hours. I was praying on Monday for some Godly advice on how to deal with some feelings I have been having. I was on Erin Harrison's website on your column was on there for the day. Thank you. A heavy weight was lifted off of me as I read your words of advice and encouragement and began to pray. We are looked at by our church family as a great family. I have many comment about what an amazing family we are and there are times where I want to scream...."if you only knew!!!" Thank you again for keeping me focused on God and what he commands.
1 reply · active 544 weeks ago
I encourage you to get the book "What's it Like to be Married to Me?" by Linda Dillow. You can get it on Kindle for very cheap. There are many stories in there about women in difficult marriages and how God redeemed them, beautiful stories. Don't give up, dear sister. The Lord is in this battle with you. Continue praying and loving your husband and hopefully soon, the Lord will pull him out of this pit he has dug for himself. You sanctify him by staying with him. You may be the only Jesus he sees.

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