Who looks for a Unfaithful wife?

Proverbs 12:4

“An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones.”

I know I’ve never met you, but I’m sure that when you were giving thought to marriage, your end goal was not an unfaithful or quarrelsome wife.  I’m not sure what you were looking for some want one thing and others are not even considering those thoughts but are looking for something very different, but I bet all have this desire for their wife to be faithful to them.  But statistics tell us our dream often ends in divorce, and often we wonder why?

The Barna Group tells us the following; couples are saying their wedding vows, but one out of three is divorced at least once.  This is a part of the report put out by the Barna Group: In addition to finding that four out of every five adults (78%) have been married at least once, the Barna study revealed that an even higher proportion of born-again Christians (84%) tie the knot. That eclipses the proportion among people aligned with non-Christian faiths (74%) and among atheists and agnostics (65%).

With that information let’s go to the Proverbs and look at three types of wives, and what Solomon has to share with us about them.

A Wayward or unfaithful wife!  Let us begin with a warning against adultery, Proverbs 6:23-26, “For this command is a lamp, this teaching is a light, and correction and instruction are the way to life, keeping you from your neighbor’s wife, from the smooth talk of a wayward woman.  Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.  For a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread, but another man’s wife preys on your very life.”  I’ve never known a man who set out to be an adulterer, nor have I seen a man whose goal was to marry an adulteress or a woman he knew would be unfaithful. 

But Solomon in his self-help or advice tells a man to; “Keep my commands, and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.  Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.  Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and to insight, “You are my relative.”  They will keep you from the adulterous woman, from the wayward woman with her seductive words.”  (Proverbs 7:2-5)  And the last word on the unfaithful wife, found in today's verse Proverbs 12:4b, “but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones.”

Next, we have the quarrelsome wife or just ill-tempered!  These words from King Solomon are found in Proverbs 21:9 and 25:24, “Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.”  I’m almost sure no one set out to marry someone who always wants to argue or is never pleased with what you have done for them.  And Solomon’s last word on this subject is found in Proverbs 27:15-16, “A quarrelsome wife is like the dripping of a leaky roof in a rainstorm;
restraining her is like restraining the wind or grasping oil with the hand.” 

The Pure or Noble Wife, and last we look at a lady like the one I am blessed to share this life with, and one like her I wish for every man.  Where do the Jan’s come from, each man should make his goal to find such a lady, so let’s listen to Solomon’s counsel.  We find in Proverbs 19:4, “Houses and wealth are inherited from parents, but a prudent wife is from the Lord.”  I was not that smart, I knew that no houses of wealth were coming from my dad, so if I read this, maybe I did not pray for such a lady, but thank you Lord Jesus for giving me one.

Now I always need to be respected by my wife, and often, very often did not earn or deserve her honor or respect, but she was still faithful in this area.  But when she became the queen of our home, guess what I got to be king, and she is my crown, “An excellent wife is the crown of her husband,”  (Proverbs 12:4a).

And the final word from Solomon found in Proverbs 31:10-12, and I’m living with her, my bride of 52 years.  “An excellent wife who can find?  She is far more precious than jewels.  The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice