Does your marriage sometimes feel like a tug-of-war? You want to be heard. You want to be valued. You want your husband to understand you. But instead of closeness, you feel tension. Instead of warmth, there is distance. And when you read passages in Scripture that instruct wives to “submit” or “respect,” something inside you tightens. It feels unfair, risky, and maybe even impossible. My wife and I once had a couple come to us for help in their marriage. The wife told us that she essentially forced her husband to go along with counseling because she wanted us to “fix him.” He worked hard in construction for a living but never seemed to get ahead. When he came home from work, he just wanted to relax by playing video games. The more we talked with this couple, the more we saw that this situation wasn’t one-sided, as she insisted. She constantly yelled at him, told him he was worthless, and argued with him about everything. She rarely had a positive remark to say to him. When we brought up the biblical principles of submission and respect, she wouldn’t have anything to do with either one. As far as she ...