day no. 15,375: it's a tough call

"Be tough for your wife, which is a very different thing than being tough on her." -- Douglas Wilson, Flesh of My Flesh

God made men strong. They are built, God-tough. The reason is so that they can be hard for their wives. Their broad shoulders were meant to carry loads for her. To clear the driveway for her. To take the heavy, cumbersome trash bags out for her. When men go rogue, they either do so by being weak where they were made to be strong or by using their strength for something it was not intended for. So men either refuse to chop wood because it's too cold or they use the axe to chop up the house. These fall short of the glory for which God created men -- to be strong and good. If you are tough on your wife, you are a bully, using for wicked gain what God gave you to employ for her good. If you are tough for her, you are like Christ, giving your gain to her because God is good.