The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace

I just finished reading The Excellent Wife: A Biblical Perspective by Martha Peace. Overall, I thought it was, true to its subtitle, a biblical perspective on what it means to be a wife. We live in a very feminist world where the word "submission" has a stigma attached to it, but the truth is that the Bible does talk about submission - and when done biblically, it's a good thing, not a bad thing! This book addresses several topics; love, submission, home, a wife's responsibilities, honouring Christ, communication, conflict, anger, and fear are just some of the topics she covers. Martha teaches that a wife is supposed to be submissive to her husband in all things except when her husband asks her to sin. She then thoroughly explains how to biblically respond to a request to sin.

What I liked most about this book is that the author includes LOTS of scripture in every single topic she covers. This will no doubt leave the reader feeling convicted about certain sins in her own life. The book is very systematically laid out, which makes it easy to read and focus on biblical issues topic by topic. I also like how she has charts using Bible passages to contrast a "lazy person" from a "self-disciplined person", for example. I especially liked the chapters that address the wife's anger and the wife's fear.

At times I found the book a bit hard to get through. I'm not exactly sure why, though. On the other hand, I found Created to Be His Helpmeet by Debi Pearl impossible to put down - probably because Debi Pearl's writing style is very matter-of-fact (although maybe a bit harsh at times). I like how Pearl's book is mainly composed of letters she's received with real-life problems/questions and her responses to them. I also like how her book is broken down into sections addressing each description of the woman described in Titus 2. I would not necessarily say, however, that Debi Pearl's book is more doctrinally sound than Peace's book. I think Martha Peace's book contains a lot less inflammatory language than Debi Pearl's book (if my memory serves me right - it's been a long time since I read Pearl's book). In rare instances, though, Martha Peace's book seemed a bit too "psychological" for me, I think. That may be why it was harder to get through.

Overall, however, I do think The Excellent Wife gives a biblical perspective on being a godly wife, which is much needed in today's humanistic, self-centred, feminist society. I would recommend this book to Christian wives today.

Has anyone else out there read Martha Peace's book? What did you think of it?