Subject: How much submitting must a woman do? |
Bible Note: Norrie, If the man says he's a Christian, then he certainly doesn't understand the meaning of the word. God intended for a husband to love his wife in much the same way that Christ loves His church. He either has no understanding of Christ's love or is simply in rebellion against the truth. If her (or her children's?) lives are in danger she should leave. But depending on the severity of the abuse, perhaps this is something she could speak to her church elders about and they could counsel the husband. Many times that type of husband doesn't want the wife involved in a church or in any long-term (close) friendships because he fears she will eventually confide in someone about the abuse. Having the courage to tell someone is difficult. Taking responsiblity for her life (and her children's?) will not be easy if the abuse is extreme. She will fear the repercussions if he finds out, and of course he will if it is to be stopped. There is very little difference between physical and emotional abuse in the extreme, except that phyical abuse heals faster. Severe emotional abuse alone can many times demean a woman into believing she must stay, and then two things happen. 1)She begins to believe herself that she deserves this type of treatment and when physical abuse begins seems acceptable to her; and 2)Eventually through example she and the husband teach their children that women deserve to be treated badly. And if children are involved, the lessons can carry on through a child's life into adulthood, where it is usually repeated again and again. Most women, even Christian women, seem to carry on even in severe abusive relationships until the physical abuse peaks and they see death as imminent, or until they see the emotional abuse causing immense pain or extremely harmful behavioral changes in their children. Personally I've found that when children are raised under these conditions, it seems very hard for them to accept God's love, but rather expect Him to be a God of punishment. Someone waiting in the wings for them to mess up so He can hurt them for being bad. Hopefully the wife will seek godly counseling and bring it to light. Kept hidden, nothing will change except for the worse. |