It's not likely that you'll encounter a dragon that will need slaying to protect your wife. You probably won't have to deal with the Mongol hoards swarming through your village. Orcs, either. Other things, far more subtle things seek to destroy your wife, and unfortunately, many of us invite these beasts into our home.
No doubt some will consider where I am going prudish and will counter with the toughness of women. In truth, we do not give women enough credit for their toughness. My point, we do not need to put them in a position unnecessarily where they need to exhibit toughness.
Consider the movies to which you take your bride. What level of violence is too much? Does my bride need to see a body ripped in two? Does she need to witness acts of depravity or cruelty? Does she need to be assaulted with language far beyond what you have to endure at work? Yes, these things are in the world, but does she need to drink it through her eyes and ears? More so, do I?
Let me encourage you to read this article from R. C. Sproul, Jr. In it, he speaks of how his wife labored to bring beauty, God's beauty into their home, and how that blessed him and protected him from the attacks of the world. As I read it, I thought, "Shouldn't I be doing that for my wife? Shouldn't I be protecting our home against such things? I protect my children, should I not also protect my wife?"
Peter commands us to dwell with our wives with understanding giving honor to our wives as the weaker vessel. One of the chief ways that we can honor our women is by being careful about the things to which we expose her. Yes, the world will assault. Let's not invite it into our homes.
Consider what you watch.
Consider what's on your iPod.
Consider the games you play.
Really, Charles Sheldon's book, What would Jesus do?, is a great model for us as we minister to our women. If Jesus wouldn't, then why would we? And what would he think about our putting such fare before the daughters for which he died?
Love your wife. Make your home a stronghold, a sanctuary.
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NOTE: Came across this quote from John Piper after I wrote this:
“Husbands are not Christ. But they are called to be like him. And the specific point of likeness is the husband's readiness to suffer for his wife's good without threatening or abusing her. This includes suffering to protect her from any outside forces that would harm her, as well as suffering disappointments of abuses even from her. This kind of love is possible because Christ died for both husband and wife. Their sins are forgiven. Neither needs to make the other suffer for sins. Christ has borne that suffering. Now as two sinful and forgiven people we can return good for evil.”
