CathInfo.com

I originally posted this in the "Disciplining your wife", but really think it deserves its own topic.

Should this discipline take place in front of the children?

What should be a wife's response to either verbal or physical discipline?

And what if said discipline is given in anger, as a means of hurting the other person, rather than being done out of charity, for the true good of their soul?  What recourse does the wife have then?

I only ask because my husband verbally corrects me--out of anger, very often with a raised voice and hurtful words (ie: stupid) in front of my children.  Now that my sons are turning older, they too yell, criticize, or blame me when things go wrong.

I'm especially interested in the thoughts of those who advocate for wifely discipline.  If done incorrectly, it can and does affect your wife's thoughts and care for you and the attitudes of the children towards their mother.


Don't get me wrong--I am not a saint and in the instances where I truly require correction, I will accept it.  But should the manner in which it is given be so harsh that it leaves your wife in tears because she has been humiliated in front of your children, again?  What about innocent mistakes or simple forgetfulness due to the vast number of demands made on her from a large family?  Attempting to give an explanation is often viewed as "talking back" when one is merely trying to explain why something did or didn't happen.

I have been so hurt by things my husband has said and done to correct me that I have come to the conclusion that I have disappointed him in his choice of spouse.

I ask again, what should a woman do in cases like these?

If her sin adversely affects the children, for example: if the wife tells a blatant untruth (like: "God doesn't exist!"), that should be immediately corrected since that harms the children.
If her sin isn't known to the children, she should be corrected privately. To reveal her secret sin to her children would be the sin of detraction.