What Does the Bible Say About Controlling Spouses?

Ephesians 5:21 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Ephesians 4:26-27 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.

1 Corinthians 13:5 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;

1 Corinthians 7:10-11 ESV / 3 helpful votes

To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband (but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and the husband should not divorce his wife.

Romans 12:19 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

Malachi 2:16 ESV / 3 helpful votes

“For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”

1 John 4:18 ESV / 2 helpful votes

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

James 3:5-6 ESV / 2 helpful votes

So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.

James 3:1-12 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! ...

Philippians 2:3-5 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,

2 Corinthians 7:8-10 ESV / 2 helpful votes

For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 ESV / 2 helpful votes

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; ...

1 Corinthians 7:11 ESV / 2 helpful votes

(but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and the husband should not divorce his wife.

Romans 12:19-21 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:18 ESV / 2 helpful votes

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

Romans 5:8 ESV / 2 helpful votes

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 3:23 ESV / 2 helpful votes

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

John 3:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Luke 17:3 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him,

Luke 15:20-24 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

Luke 11:39-54 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you. “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. ...

Luke 7:47 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”

Luke 6:27-36 ESV / 2 helpful votes

“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. ...

Matthew 23:13-36 ESV / 2 helpful votes

“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ ...

Matthew 21:12-13 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”

Matthew 12:34 ESV / 2 helpful votes

You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

Matthew 7:3-5 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

Matthew 6:14-15 ESV / 2 helpful votes

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Matthew 5:22 ESV / 2 helpful votes

But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.

Amos 1:1-15 ESV / 2 helpful votes

The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. And he said: “The Lord roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers.” Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron. So I will send a fire upon the house of Hazael, and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad. I will break the gate-bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of Aven, and him who holds the scepter from Beth-eden; and the people of Syria shall go into exile to Kir,” says the Lord. ...

Ecclesiastes 4:1-2 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them. And I thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive.

Proverbs 29:25 ESV / 2 helpful votes

The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.

Proverbs 27:6 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.

Proverbs 19:19 ESV / 2 helpful votes

A man of great wrath will pay the penalty, for if you deliver him, you will only have to do it again.

Proverbs 16:24 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.

Proverbs 16:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes

All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit.

Proverbs 12:18 ESV / 2 helpful votes

There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Psalm 147:3 ESV / 2 helpful votes

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

Psalm 52:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit.

Psalm 51:17 ESV / 2 helpful votes

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Psalm 10:7 ESV / 2 helpful votes

His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.

Psalm 8:4-5 ESV / 2 helpful votes

What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

Judges 16:15-17 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me where your great strength lies.” And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death. And he told her all his heart, and said to her, “A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.”

Judges 14:16-17 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And Samson's wife wept over him and said, “You only hate me; you do not love me. You have put a riddle to my people, and you have not told me what it is.” And he said to her, “Behold, I have not told my father nor my mother, and shall I tell you?” She wept before him the seven days that their feast lasted, and on the seventh day he told her, because she pressed him hard. Then she told the riddle to her people.

Judges 6:1-17 ESV / 2 helpful votes

The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian seven years. And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. They would encamp against them and devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey. For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come like locusts in number—both they and their camels could not be counted—so that they laid waste the land as they came in. ...

Genesis 3:12 ESV / 2 helpful votes

The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”

Genesis 3:7-13 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” ...

47 Bible Verses about Controlling Spouses

Ephesians 5:21 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ephesians 4:26-27 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Corinthians 13:5 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Corinthians 7:10-11 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Romans 12:19 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Malachi 2:16 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 John 4:18 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

James 3:5-6 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

James 3:1-12 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Philippians 2:3-5 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

2 Corinthians 7:8-10 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Corinthians 7:11 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Romans 12:19-21 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Romans 12:18 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Romans 5:8 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Romans 3:23 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

John 3:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Luke 17:3 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Luke 15:20-24 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Luke 11:39-54 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Luke 7:47 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Luke 6:27-36 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Matthew 23:13-36 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Matthew 21:12-13 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Matthew 12:34 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Matthew 7:3-5 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Matthew 6:14-15 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Matthew 5:22 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Amos 1:1-15 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ecclesiastes 4:1-2 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 29:25 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 27:6 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 19:19 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 16:24 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 16:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 12:18 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Psalm 147:3 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Psalm 52:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Psalm 51:17 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Psalm 10:7 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Psalm 8:4-5 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Judges 16:15-17 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Judges 14:16-17 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Judges 6:1-17 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Genesis 3:12 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Genesis 3:7-13 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

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