If Your Brother Sins, Rebuke Him

In keeping with the theme from last week about responding biblically to your spouse, this week we will talk about how to handle a situation when your spouse is acting in a way that is outside God’s law. As Christians, we are obligated not to turn a blind eye to sin no matter who that is. Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. Luke 17:3. Doing this is not to boast or to find delight in someone else flaws, but to help them restore their relationship with God. Please don’t also rebuke your spouse for every sin he commits. I’m sure you wouldn’t want him doing the same to you. When we rebuke someone it’s because their sin is causing a wedge in their relationship with God. And subject yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ. Ephesians 5:21. Not only is it ok for a wife to rebuke her husband, but it is expected. She is God’s gift to her husband to help him draw closer to the Lord and encourages his faithful living. If he is drifting away from the Lord and falling into sin, the chances of him leading his family astray are pretty high as well. This rebuking should be done with humility and in love. Anything other than that is sinful on the wife’s part. A wife should first examine her own heart when approaching her husband with his sin. The purpose of her reproach should be to restore her husband to God, not to expose him or pour guilt upon him.

There may be other times when your husband acts foolishly or has foolish and unreasonable demands for you. The Bible is very clear about how to respond to these types of situations. Do not answer a fool according to his foolishness, Or you will also be like him. Proverbs 26:4. This means we do retaliate with anger, harsh words, clamming up, or returning evil for evil. As a wife, you must learn how to respond to your husband’s foolishness in a God-honoring way. Many times throughout Jesus’ ministry, we see him asking people why they are responding to Him in a certain way. In the book of John, we see Jesus respond to the high priest in this manner. Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world; I always taught in synagogues and in the temple area, where all the Jews congregate; and I said nothing in secret. Why are you asking Me? Ask those who have heard what I spoke to them. Look: these people know what I said.”John 18:20-21. However when we take Jesus’ approach, we must remember that we are not sinless like Jesus but instead sinful, so be prepared to get some kickback from your spouse. No matter what we need to say to our spouses we must remember that the word of God is our most valuable tool. With this tool, we should be gentle and have a quiet manner, while also maintaining a submissive attitude. Confronting your spouse is hard but is necessary. Do it in prayer and careful consideration and always in love.