A Husbands Duty

Have I not said before that ashtrays should not be on the floor? Some men take this attitude so far that it causes rows and quarrels within their family, and sometimes a family break- down as a result of their behaviour. Of course we are not saying that men do not have the right to tell their wives what to do and what not to do.

In the first part of this book, women were recommended to acknowledge this right. There we stated that women should not show stubbornness towards their husbands' suggestions regarding household affairs. However, men should keep their logic and wisdom. They are their families' guardians and as such they should act properly.

If a man wants to successfully participate in the affairs of the house then he should do so in a calculated manner. As a matter of fact, since a man does not have enough time to participate in all the matters regarding his house and because he lacks the necessary expertise in this connection, then it is to his advantage to leave the housework to his wife. A man should leave his wife at liberty with regard to running the house. Men can, however, under the pretext of consultation, not forcefully, remind their wives about certain points.

Once a wise woman finds out her husband's wishes about any matter, she would try to conform with them. Therefore, a man and a woman who care for each other and their family, can through talking together in a kind manner, reach many agreements on all matters. In this way, most women are prepared to conform with their husbands' occasional demands. But if his participation takes the form of picking up fault and constant moaning, then the housewife gets used to them and consequently this attitude becomes a usual affair from which nothing useful would result.

A woman with a moaning husband would not take him seriously. She may even ignore his proper and important points of concern. She would reason for herself "Why should I waste my energy, if my husband is not ever satisfied with my work? This is when their house turns into a battlefield. Constant criticism of each other would then prepare the ground for separation and thus a family unit breaks down. In this scenario the woman is not to be blamed because even a wise and patient wife would run out of patience as a result of continuously humiliating attitude of her husband.

After further enquiries, this man's wife said:. He constantly criticizes me on my cooking and running the affairs of house. Therefore, I have left him to find peace somewhere else'. Men should remember that housework is an area for their wives to perform their duties. It is wrong to deprive them of their rights or to turn them into puppets. It is wiser to leave them to run the house the way they like. As a result, your wife does her job enthusiastically, you would remain happy and your house would be a home for a happy family. A woman also, similar to a man, undergoes emotional changes.

She experiences happiness, anger, sorrow, etc. She becomes tired from housework and may become annoyed with the children. Others may upset her by their criticisms. She might become involved in competing with others. In short, a woman confronts many problems of which some may affect her so much so that she might become desperate to such an extent so as to react unkindly towards trivial matters. This is especially the case for women, because they are very sensitive and would react more critically towards unpleasant events as compared to men. Women, who experience hardship, need appeasing. Men must comfort them because they are their partners and the ones who are trusted by their wives.

When you find your wife in a state of distress and anger, then try to understand her situation. If you enter your house and she does not salute you, you say 'salam' to her. This would not belittle you. Talk to her with a smiling face. Help her in the housework. Be careful not to offend her in any way.

Do not tease her. If she is not in a mood to talk, then leave her alone. If she feels like talking, listen to her and sympathize with her. Pretend you are more concerned with her problem than herself. Let her reveal her grievances for you. Then like a kind father or a sympathetic husband try to help her find a solution to her problem. Encourage her to be patient. Through wisdom and logic make her regard her problems as trivial. Strengthen her character and assist her in overcoming the cause of her annoyance. Be patient and treat her according to your logic.

She would certainly find your help useful and life will soon get back to normal for both of you. On the contrary, your wrong approach would cause more distress for her. You would also suffer and it might even turn into a major row from which, both of you would suffer. There is no one in this world who has all the qualities and free from all the faults. Some people may be too fat or too thin.

Their mouth may be too big, have large noses or big teeth. Others may be dirty, impolite, shy, cheeky, depressed, bad-tempered, jealous, lazy or selfish. Some women may not be good cooks or talented hostesses. Some people may eat too much or spend lavishly. In brief, everyone is imperfect and no one in this world can be regarded as a perfect being. Men usually, before marriage, imagine their ideal woman to be devoid of all faults.

They ignore this fact that there is no angel-like figure in our universe. These men, once married, find their ideal wives not to be perfect and thus start to point out their faults. They might even regard their marriages as failures and call themselves 'unlucky'. Some men exaggerate the faults so much that they always appear before them like high mountains.

They occasionally mention these faults to their wives and humiliate them. They might even mention them before friends and relatives. As a result, the foundation of their marital life starts trembling. The woman becomes depressed and loses interest in her husband and family. She would think it illogical to work in the house of someone who criticizes her.

She might even take retaliatory measures. The man says to his wife: A continuation of this conversation opens the door for criticisms and turns the house into a battlefield in which the couple insults and degrades each other. If they live like this, they would not enjoy their lives ever again, because a house devoid of family love and sincerity, is not a place of comfort. Moreover, a man who regards himself as unlucky and his marriage as a failure, and a woman who is constantly being humiliated, are both prone to mental disorders and other illnesses. If the magnitude of their row becomes larger then there is always the danger of divorce and separation.

A divorce is not very helpful to either party especially if there are children in the family. Society does not have much respect for a divorcee. Moreover, a divorce would inflict economic losses on a man, which are not easily repairable. This is especially true if he wants to re-marry, since he would also have to spend money on his second marriage. Furthermore, it is not at all clear that a divorcee is able to find another woman who would live up to his expectations.

Re-marriage would not be easy for him because of his past record. Even if he finds another woman, she would definitely possess certain faults also. She may even turn out to be worse than his first wife. He would then have to cope with her. This is because some men are too proud to confess their shortcomings. It is rare to find a man who is fully satisfied with his second marriage.

It has even been seen that some men return to their first wives. Why should you look at your wife with a view of finding her faults and why do you place so much importance on her trivial defects? Why do you magnify her deficiencies so much so that it causes suffering for you and your family? Have you ever seen a perfect woman? Are you perfect yourself? What are trivial deficiencies worth that you endanger your marriage for their sake? Be certain that if you look at your wife with a logical and fair view, you would see many good points about her.

You look and see that her merits would outweigh her deficiencies. Islam regards this attitude as harmful and distasteful and thus forbids all from finding other people's faults. Do not speak ill of Muslims and do not set out to find their faults because whoever picks up fault with others, would be criticized by Allah and even if such a person is at his house, he would be disgraced'.

Some people are in the habit of uttering slander about others. This distasteful behaviour creates enmity among friends and relatives and can break families. It has even been responsible for murder. There are various reasons for such behaviour, like jealousy, anger, vengeance and hostility. Some people resort to defamatory words in order to satisfy their own ego, to attract others' attention towards themselves, or to pretend to be sympathetic with someone else.

But it is rarely a case that slanderous statements are based on good intentions. Therefore, a wise and clever man should ignore such statements. He must always analyze the statements of the speaker in order not to be deceived or influenced by his evil insinuations. One of the points for men to remember is that generally their mothers, sisters and brothers, despite their apparent friendship, do not enjoy a good relationship with their wives. The reason is that a man, before marriage, spends years with his parents where he does not have much independence.

His parents, who have worked hard to bring him up, expect him to be helpful to them in their old age. Even after they marry their son off and apparently give him independence, they expect him to conform to their own will and wishes. They like their son to pay more attention to them than to his wife. But the reality is that when a man starts a marital life, he makes a great deal of effort for his new family, wife, and independence. He directs his love towards his wife and works hard in this connection.

The more he steps in this direction, the farther he goes away from his parents. Thus his mother and sister s specifically feel offended. They regard their new bride as a threat who would be taking their young boy away from them. They might even blame their bride for separating their boy from his family. Mothers may sometimes think that the best way of confronting this danger is by implementing ways of lessening their sons' affection towards their wives.

A mother of this kind would then start to point out her daughter-in-law's deficiencies, spread lies about her, speak defamatory words about her, conspire against her, etc. If a man is simple or naive, he might even be influenced by his mother's defamatory statements. He would then become a tool in the hands of his family after which he would lose interest in his wife.

Under his parents' influence, the man would start to moan and pick up faults with his wife. He would criticize her on any possible occasion. Instigations of men by their mothers and sisters could lead to rows and even fights between a man and his wife. A wife in this condition might resort to drastic measures such as committing suicide.

After an operation on her to remove the pins from her stomach, she said in the hospital: The day I entered the house of my husband, I felt as lucky as other married women. But after only a few days, my husband and his sister started criticizing me. Their attitude made life very difficult for me.

Finally I decided to kill myself and swallowed a few pins'. Therefore, criticisms, bad attitudes, and defamatory words of mothers, sisters and brothers-in-law can be very harmful and thus a man must be aware of their nuisance. Of course it is not possible to stop people from talking but it is possible to neutralize their talks. A man must be aware that criticisms about his wife by his mother, sister, etc are not meant to be sympathetic and out of good intentions, but the main reasons are jealousy, enmity, selfishness, etc. He must remember that because his wife draws much of his attention towards herself, his family envies her and regards her as a usurper of their young man.

Therefore, they resort to ways of preventing their love to grow. In brief, mothers, sisters, and brothers of this kind are not bothered with your happiness, but rather they are concerned with their own interests. If they were concerned with your happiness, they would have done something different. It is very strange that parents make a great deal of compliments of a woman who wants to marry their son, but once their son marries that woman, the parents turn completely the opposite way.

Do not be deceived. Those deficiencies that your family set forth for your wife are not relevant; and even if they are not trivial, then remember that nobody is perfect. Paying attention to their slanderous statements would only adversely affect your family life. You might even end up with a divorce as a result of which you would suffer mentally and economically.

A re-marriage would not be easy. Even if you find another woman to marry, it is not at all obvious that she is any better than your former wife. How do you make sure that your family would not treat her as badly as they did with your former wife? So it is better for you to tell your mother, sister and others right now that your wife suits you and that you love her.

You must declare to them that they should stop criticizing your wife or else your wife or else you would cut off your relationship with them. Once they feel your firm attitude, they would stop their instigative attitude and you may find peace with your wife. But unfortunately, some mothers and sisters do not give up easily and resort to malicious accusations such as adultery. The problem becomes so serious that a man might, based on his mother's statements, divorce his wife or even kill her.

The man said in the court: I found a few of her letters last night'. His wife while crying, said: But now that their mischievous deeds have not affected my husband, they have forged some love-letters and have placed them in my wardrobe in order to instigate him to divorce me'. The court reconciled the couple with each other and advised the man to tell his mother and sister to stop their malicious acts towards their bride. Neighbours soon put the fire out and took her to the hospital.

She said in the hospital: She constantly picks up fault with me. She raises excuses and is very furious in nature.

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She does not miss an opportunity to create a row between me and my husband. Yesterday I went for shopping and accidentally met one of my old school friends. We talked a while and then I returned home. My mother-in-law started questioning me as to why I was late? I explained but she was not satisfied. She said that I was lying and that I was having an affair with the butcher in our street. I got furious and felt so frustrated that I decided to kill myself. Therefore, a man should always be aware of such allegations which could have disastrous ends.

He should make enquiries about them patiently and not jump to conclusions blindly. Of course one's parents work hard and suffer a great deal in bringing up their children and thus make them become the centre of all their hopes. They expect him to be a helping hand for them in their old age and their expectations are just that. So it is not fair that when one gains independency, he should forget about his duties towards his parents.

He should attend to their rightful wishes even after he is married. He must maintain their respect and be humble before them. He is duty-bound to help them money wise if they ever needed it. He should not cut off his relationship with them and must invite them to his house. He must demand his wife and children to show their respect for them. He must make his wife understand that if she would respect his parents, they would not feel the necessity of annoying her and would even be proud of her and support her.

Finally women are reminded that they have no right to expect their husbands to abandon their parents. This expectation is neither possible nor fair. A wise woman can treat her in-laws in such a way that they would regard her as an important member of their own family. This is only possible if she respects them, seeks advice from them, helps them, etc. This discussion was presented in detail in the first part to which you can refer to for more information. Other than the Infallible ones whom Allah has vowed to keep away from sins , no human being is perfect and all of us make many mistakes.

Of course this is true for both men and women. In the case of women, she may make mistakes by being impolite to her husband, do something against his wish, be harsh to him, or inflict an economic loss on him by being careless, etc. Of course it is true that a couple should keep each other satisfied and should seriously avoid annoying each other; however, it rarely happens that one or both parties do not deviate from this line.

Some men think that they should be strict about their wives' mistakes as they believe this to be the way to prevent the repetition of the same mistake again. However, experience often shows exactly the reverse to be the case. A woman, whose husband is strict with her, may be able to cope with his strictness for a while, but would eventually decide to react against it as a result of frustration.

She gradually gets used to his attitude until she becomes indifferent towards it. A husband who would not practice forgiveness with regard to his wife's mistakes, is practically encouraging her to become impudent and disobedient. He might wish to continue this attitude where he will surely have many rows with his wife. They both would have to live in a state of bitterness for the rest of their lives.

Or he might choose to leave his wife alone and not concern himself with her as much. In this case his wife, who feels she has won a fight, becomes indifferent to her husband's will and wishes. It might reach a point that even when she commits major mistakes deliberately, he keeps silent. Their marriage then loses its warmth and they might resort to divorce. Remember that a divorce is harmful to both parties because starting a new life is not so easy.

Happiness cannot be guaranteed after divorce. Therefore, strictness is not always useful and often results in undesired events which one can read about in the media. The best way is to remain moderate and to act logically. Forgive all the trivial and non-deliberate mistakes of your wife. There is no need to shout at someone for a mistake which has happened erroneously. Of course, one can always advise others in order to help them not to repeat their mistakes. People make many mistakes out of ignorance, so it is better to advise them patiently to correct their incorrect deeds or opinions.

Therefore, your wife cannot be forced into correcting her mistakes, but instead you should explain her mistake and its harmful effects logically so that she could choose herself not to repeat that action again. Thus not only your mutual respect remains as before, but it would also prevent the repetition of the same mistakes. It is wise for a man to logically stop his wife from making mistakes, but if she persistently makes errors, then again he should forgive and overlook them. It is wrong for him to set about punishing her or trying to prove her guilt in order to make her apologetic. This is because women are stubborn by nature, and improper strictness makes them react more severely than before.

This might be followed by unpleasant or even horrific events, such as divorce or murder. A mother, before marrying her daughter off to a man, imagines her son-in-law to be perfect and approves for her daughter one who could make her happy. She would respect him and would treat him kindly in the hope of being able to correct his trivial faults at a later stage. Sometimes she finds her son-in-law conforms to her expectation, and sometimes he does not. In the latter case, she intends to shape him until he can be accepted by her and for this she uses every possible means such as her own and others' experiences, and starts to plan her approach.

She sometimes pretends to be sympathetic and sometimes strict. She might act as a guide and a supervisor, or might complain. However, the best option is to achieve her goal by influencing her daughter by making her not conform to her husband. She uses her daughter and thus orders her to act differently at various times. Consequently, the man finds his wife to be critical of him one day and begging him to do something the next day. An inexperienced woman would think that her mother would be sympathetic to her marriage and would conform to her advice! Thus if her husband still does not conform to his mother- in-law's ideal man, rows may break out between the couple which could result in divorce and even murder.

That is why most men are not on good terms with their mothers-in-law. They blame them for their wives' disobedience and believe that their mothers put words in their daughters' mouths. May God save the wolves from her. She has made my life so bitter that I am going crazy and feel like running away to the mountains and deserts It is not only me who is fed up with this situation. This is a general case and I think ninety-five percent of men are affected by them and the other five percent probably do not have a mother-in-law'.

She causes our annoyance for no good reason. She is always speaking defamatory words about my family. Whenever I buy anything for my wife, she the mother-in-law starts picking up fault with it. She criticizes its colour, or model and tries to prove it worthless to my wife. She stings like a scorpion. She teaches my wife to be rude to me, to leave the housework, or to expect the impossible from me. Whenever she comes to us, our house turns into hell. I truly hate the sight of her'. Most men try to counter their mothers-in-law's influences on their wives by restricting their relationship with them.

They stop their wives from going to their parents' houses. In brief, men do not get along with their mothers-in- law and show their dislike for them by all possible means. However, this approach, although usual, is not logical and wise. This is because a mother daughter relationship is very strong and is a natural bond which cannot be broken easily. How can a man expect his wife to abandon her parents who have spent years trying to bring her up? This expectation is not practical and even if it happens, it would not be permanent, as any unnatural act is temporary.

Besides if a woman feels that her husband is against her parents, she might take up a similar stance with regard to his family. She may become disobedient, disrespectful, etc. Moreover, this attitude of the man gives an excuse to his mother-in-law to interfere more severely in their marriage. In brief this approach could have a negative result and might lead to divorce.

Anyway why should a man, who can benefit from associating with his in-laws, resort to such measures which could harm him and his family? His brother-in-law then became furious with him and after wounding him with a knife, escaped. She screamed and fainted on the floor.

Here Are The 4 Basic Duties of Husbands In Islam According to Quran and Hadith

She was taken to hospital and after recovery said her daughter had informed her husband that she wanted a divorce and could not live with him any longer. Besides she finds herself close to him because of the interest that she has in her daughter's happiness. Therefore, when a mother-in-law interferes in her daughter's life, it cannot be meant to be anything but with good intentions. She means to be sympathetic, but sometimes out of ignorance, she takes the wrong steps or makes harmful suggestions.

Thus one should not be too critical of such women. Such effort is contrary to the laws of nature and cannot be justified in any way. Just as a man is interested in his parents, so is a woman. Consequently it is best to have a kind of relationship with one's in-laws that is beneficial to both parties.

This is only possible if one exercises respect and kindness. A man can, through wisdom, respect, obedience, etc have a good relationship with his mother-and father-in-law. He should show his love for their daughter. He should not criticize her in front of them. He should seek advice and spiritual help from them.

In the event of their suggesting or doing something wrong. He should kindly and logically point out to them that they are not right. He should not speak harshly to them. A married man should regard a good relationship with his in-laws, as his duty and a secret to a successful marriage. As a result many family problems are prevented while many more can be resolved. In brief, it is not always the mother-in-law who is guilty but men should be wise enough to be friend them. I love her more than my own mother, because she is kind and understanding. She always helps us with our problems.

Her existence is a guarantee of my family's happiness and prosperity'. Even if a man has a mother-in-law who is stubborn, ignorant and impossible to reconcile with, he should not treat her harshly. This kind of women may make one's life difficult, but it is always better to react softly towards their improper behaviour. This is because, by treating them kindly, one could minimize the danger to one's marriage. Meanwhile, the man should get closer to his wife and should make her trust him. He must discuss her mother's wrong deeds with her, and logically prove to her, their undesirable consequences.

If a man is able to create a deep understanding with his wife, then many problems, including the one with his mother- in-law would be solved. So do not forget good manners, be wise and treat your family kindly in order to have a successful marriage. Keep away from sulking and separation'. Woman is an emotional being whose emotions are dominant over her logic. She is more naive and sensitive than a man.

She can be deceived more easily and has less control over her emotional desires. She cannot decide wisely once she is upset. She can be amused or made upset with little effort. Thus if the man has supervision over the behaviour and actions of his wife, most of the possible risks would be averted. This is why the holy religion of Islam appoints men to act as guardians of their families and makes them responsible for their family affairs. Therefore a man, who is regarded as the protector of his family, should not practise carelessness with regard to his wife's deeds, He must always supervise her affairs and monitor her actions, He must see to it that she does not deviate or associate with the wrong kind of people.

He must logically explain to her the harms of keeping bad company. He must not allow her to leave the house with indecent clothing or which arouse sexual feelings, He must not permit her to participate in corrupt activities or to attend unworthy gatherings,. It is a fact that if a woman is left alone in her deeds and associations, she would possibly fall into the traps of evil- minded people who live in a corrupt life.

Men are recommended to take a look at the number of women who, as a result of their husbands' negligence, have fallen prey to corruption; there are many women who have been deceived at night parties. Many families have broken down and many children have lost their families as a result of such get-togethers. A man who allows his wife to leave the house with indecent clothes, permits her to befriend all kinds of people, and does not stop her from attending corrupt gatherings, is in fact committing the greatest perfidious act to himself, his wife, and children.

This attitude would lead his wife towards hundreds of danger zones from which she cannot easily escape.

Role of Husband in the Bible

Petrol is inflammable and fire can burn it, thus it is foolish to think that leaving petrol next to fire would not set it ablaze. How ignorant and simple minded are those men who allow their wives or daughters, by being indecently dressed, to expose themselves in the streets, while at the same time disliking the attention or notice given to them by the youth.

Wrong freedoms of this kind have grave consequences. If a woman is successful in taming her husband with regard to her unlawful desires, she would then increase the extension of her wishes up to a level where she would act independently of her husband altogether. This will result in mischievous events in the family.

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The Prophet of Allah S replied: And any woman whose husband permits her to leave the house adorned and perfumed, with each step that she takes, Allah would build a house for her husband in hell'. He must not resort to anger or violence. He must not make his wife feel that she is being ordered about or else she would react unpleasantly. The best way is, for the man, to be kind and understanding. He must act like a sympathetic partner and explain to his wife about the harms of wrong deeds.

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She must be made to choose the right path herself with enthusiasm and eagerness. A woman, like a man, needs freedom and should be at liberty in her rightful associations. She must be free to communicate with her parents, brothers, and sisters and must be allowed to keep the appropriate type of company. In brief, there are exceptional cases where a woman should be deprived of her desires. But even in such cases one should not step beyond the limits and become too strict. Too much strictness is harmful.

It destroys a friendly atmosphere and causes annoyance. A woman might react severely as a result of her husband's strictness. She might even ask for a divorce. We have a son and a daughter now. At times my husband has been treating everybody in a cynical manner. He does not allow me to associate with anybody. He even locks the doors for us when he leaves the house.

We are prisoners in his house. I can't even go to my parents any more. My family-members do not come to us either, because of him. I do not know what to do! On the one hand I cannot live with him, and on the other, I am worried about my children's future. So, I decided to take my case to this court; perhaps they can pass some judgment'. Men such as this woman's husband are, unfortunately, so strict and abnormal that their wives, despite their wish to live together, apply for divorce. Their wives become so annoyed with them that, despite having children, they are prepared to separate from them.

Why should a man forbid his wife from associating with her near-relatives? Does he not know that too much strictness prepares the grounds for some women to deviate from modesty? Has he not heard of or seen any shattered families as a result of such behaviour? Even if one's wife copes with one's strictness, there would be a lack of warm family atmosphere in the house.

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Therefore, a biblically-based husband should influence his family. Husbands are not dictators, they should not demand, they should not rule over their wives. Instead, husbands should influence their wives and families in accordance with biblical teaching. They should exemplify, with their voice and their actions, attributes that bring glory to God and value to their spouse and family. The fruit of a good biblically-based husband is a strong, confident, spiritually mature wife and family.

Two very specific ways a husband influences his home is through his provision and protection. Role of the Husband in the Bible — Provider and Protector The role of the husband in the Bible starts with leadership, but encompasses provision and protection. A husband will never influence his wife if he does not care for her. He can demand and she may follow as a result, but he will never truly have her heart unless he provides for her needs, cares for her well-being, and protects her both physically and spiritually.

For as Scripture says: God loves His daughters and the children they bear. When He gives one of His daughters to a man, He desires that the man cares for her. In no place does Scripture teach or endorse that women and children be considered second rate or inferior to men. Instead, He finds them so precious that He asks for special care to be given them; a care that only biblically-based men can provide.

Women are very capable of taking care of themselves. However, God did make men and women different and thus due to the physical nature and strength God gave men, He has charged them with the provision and protection of their families. The physical nature and strength of a man is to be managed with grace and gentleness. Now, you may be saying, "That's next! That is why the preacher asks you up front, "Are you going to love her in sickness and in health? For better or for worse? For richer or poorer? Are you going to do this for as long as you both shall live? They know you haven't seen the whole thing yet.

And when you do, they want an up front commitment that you're going to stick it out. So your wife ought to hear from you, "No matter how you treat me I'm not going to leave you. No matter how you abuse me I'm not going to leave you. No matter how you speak to me I'm not going to leave you.

You better get used to salvation because this Saviour isn't going anywhere. So, if this marriage ends you're going to have to leave me! Cause I'm not going anywhere. If you don't comfort me I'm not going anywhere. If you don't have sex with me I'm still not going anywhere. If you abuse me and mistreat me, I want to let you know, in this house, you have a Saviour. Not only must you be a Saviour, but you must be a sanctifier. Sanctify Her Ephesians 5: When you married your wife, you did not only marry your wife , you married her history.

You see, you didn't just marry her. You thought you were marrying her, but she brought with her her past, good and bad. The good parts you will enjoy, the bad parts you don't see until after the honeymoon! You get to see her with makeup on; you get to see her with lipstick on; you get to see her with eyelashes that you thought were real; and you get tricked is what you get! And after marriage you discover something. You discover that, "I didn't know you were like that! And I didn't know you were a fusser! You didn't fuss when we were dating!

I didn't know that you screamed like that! I didn't know you snored like that! I didn't know that you couldn't cook at all! I didn't know all of that! If you love her, you have to be her sanctifier. The word "sanctification" means "to set apart for special use. It is called in the scripture the process of sanctification or spiritual growth. When she shows you her problems, you now become Mister fix-it. That's what it means to love. What many men want to do is marry as though they're at the end of the relationship, when you get married you're only at the beginning of the relationship.

And your job is to take it from where it is to where it ought to go because you are the sanctifier. You are little Jesus in your home. What Christ is to His assembly you are to your wife. You are the sanctifier. So that if she's messed up, your job is to fix it up. Now, what happens in some marriages is this. It's like a backup in a sink. You know when your sink backs up because there's a lot of junk in there, there's a lot of stuff in there that can go hidden for a while but it kind of builds up. Then when it builds up it backs up. And husband's get kicked off because all this junk starts backing up.

I didn't know you had this clog over there! When that starts backing up and all of a sudden the sink gets full of this dirt, this grime, you don't say, "I'm going to leave you kitchen, because you backed up on me! I'm not going to have anything to do with you again , sink! And when you call the plumber he brings the snake! And he takes the snake and he works that thing around and around until he opens up a little hole. And when he opens up a little hole the water slowly begins to drain, and he opens it up bigger and bigger until all the junk is flushed out!

When junk backs up you don't quit, you bring in a pro. And you are that pro. And when your wife backs up, when her history backs up, when the pressure at work backs up, when circumstances back up, you're not to leave, you're to come in with the love snake and wind that thing around and turn that thing around and make a little hole there and the watch all of that junk begin to filter out of her life until it flushes all away and you can now have free flowing running water.

Bring the love snake and work that thing. You are her sanctifier. So that you can cleanse her. Verse 26 says you're her cleaner upper, so cleanse her. Heaven knows she's got some things that are not going to be pleasant to live with; things from her past, things from her history. Maybe she was abused by her father, maybe she was raised around a domineering mother that didn't disappear just because you came on the scene.

But what some husbands do is, when they see this junk come up and it backs up, they want to run the other way! You're the plumber, bring the snake "That he might present it to himself the glorious assembly, not having spot , or wrinkle. Wrinkle has to do with internal aging, because wrinkles are evident of an internal problem, getting old. God's children have spots , the external things of the world; and wrinkles , internal decay from within.

Jesus said his job was to wash the spots and remove the aging. He says the husband is the sanctifier and the husband's job is to work with his wife in such a way that she begins to see a cleanup take place in her life. When she needs strength, you are her strength. When she needs encouragement, you are her encouragement. When she needs joy, you are her joy.

When she needs peace, you are her peace. So that no matter how old she gets, she's kept eternally young because she's got a sanctifier in the house. You are her makeup. When the world crashes in on her, you are there. You are to be her power base. You are to be her strength. When she goes off, you are the ever standard one who maintains his cool even though she lost hers.

You say, "Well, if she didn't scream at me , I wouldn't have screamed at her! What this is is showing strength. You say you're the leader, you're the strong one, you say you're the powerful one, then be that! Be her sanctifier that she might be cleansed, so that Christ might present to himself a bride not having spot or wrinkle. The idea here is to nourish. So, first of all, if you're going to love her, you must be her Saviour, you must be her sanctifier. And then, the third part of love is you've got to nourish her.

Nourish Her Ephesians 5: