This Week in Books: The Excellent Wife

My review this week is of the book, The Excellent Wife, by Martha Peace.

This is what the publisher says about the book:

Here is a scripturally based blueprint for the woman who really wants to be the wife God intended her to be. This book is based on Proverbs 31:10: An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels.

Thousands of women have already discovered the worth of this volume and testify to lives and marriages changed because of a commitment to the principles presented here. If this is a commitment you have made, or want to make, The Excellent Wife answers the difficult questions facing you today.

I haven't read too many books about being a wife yet, but this book has to be one of the very best available today. Mrs. Peace clearly spells out the biblical role of the excellent wife and gives practical advice for becoming the wife God desires for you to be.

The very beginning of the book is the author's testimony about her salvation, and subsequent pursuit of being a godly wife. The beginning chapters cover truths about God, sin, and marriage. After that, the focus of the book narrows down to the wife's responsibilities; first and foremost to Christ, and then to her home, and to her husband. The heart of the book deals with submission to Christ and your husband, as well as how to handle communication problems and conflicts in marriage. The end of the book also addresses issues such as dealing with your husband's sin, anger, fear, loneliness, and sorrow.

In each chapter, the author uses much scripture to lay out the role of a wife in an understandable way. One of my favorite things about the book was that Mrs. Peace gave biblical advice for learning to apply the principles she laid out. The focus of the book was not only on outward actions, but on the condition of the wife's heart. She wrote a lot about the importance of replacing ungodly thoughts with God-honoring thoughts. When she talked about this, she would also give specific examples of bad thoughts, and their good replacements. Also, her emphasis on genuine repentance before God and others was refreshing.

A couple of excerpts:

"The works that God has prepared for you to do include not only what you do in your relationship with your husband, but also your heart's motive or attitude. It will help you to have the right attitude if you focus on what you are supposed to be doing, not on what your husband is supposed to be doing. Certainly, it is easy to get caught up in seeing whether other people (especially your husband) are doing their jobs right. However, the issue for the Christian wife is "am I doing the good works that God intended for me?" (Excellent Wife, p.12)

"Your 'heart' is not some emotional part of you that you have no control over. What you think about is a choice that you make." (Excellent Wife, p. 188)

I know I have been guilty of blaming my bad reactions to things on my hormones and whatnot; this book was a nice reminder that that's no excuse. Another things she brought up that I thought was very interesting was not judging your husband based on what you think his intents are. I know I have also been guilty of that with Ben; I may think he is thinking something, when in reality, it's completely different, and I get all upset for no reason!

I'm very thankful for Martha Peace. She seems to be a true Titus 2 woman who women in our day can look to for wisdom. Her books are far from politically correct, and very much in line with scripture. I highly recommend this book to anyone striving to be a truly excellent wife.

I used the study guide with my study of this book, and it contained many thought-provoking questions. I recommend using it, should you read this book.