Honoring your spouse is one of the most practical ways to live out your faith on a daily basis. Marriage is where theology becomes biography, where abstract concepts about love, sacrifice, forgiveness, and humility get tested in the mundane realities of sharing a life with another imperfect person.
According to research by The Gottman Institute, which has studied thousands of couples over decades, respect and honor are among the strongest predictors of marital success. Conversely, contempt, which is the opposite of honor, is one of the most reliable predictors of divorce.
Scripture places immense value on honoring your spouse. Husbands are commanded to love their wives as Christ loved the church, sacrificing everything for her good. Wives are instructed to respect their husbands, recognizing that respect is as vital to men as love is to women.
Both are called to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ, preferring the other’s needs above their own. Honor in marriage isn’t about grand gestures on anniversaries; it’s about daily choices to speak respectfully, serve sacrificially, prioritize your spouse, and treat them with the dignity they deserve as an image-bearer of God.
These verses reveal that honoring your spouse reflects your relationship with God, that mutual honor and submission are foundational to biblical marriage, and that how you treat your spouse matters eternally.
Bible Verses About Honoring Spouses
1. Ephesians 5:33 – Each One of You Must Love His Wife and the Wife Must Respect Her Husband
However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
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2. 1 Peter 3:7 – Husbands, Be Considerate as You Live With Your Wives
Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.
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3. Ephesians 5:25 – Husbands, Love Your Wives
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.
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4. Colossians 3:19 – Husbands, Love Your Wives and Do Not Be Harsh With Them
Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
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5. 1 Peter 3:1-2 – Wives, Submit Yourselves to Your Own Husbands
Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.
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6. Ephesians 5:21 – Submit to One Another Out of Reverence for Christ
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
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7. Proverbs 31:28 – Her Children Arise and Call Her Blessed; Her Husband Also
Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her.
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8. Genesis 2:24 – A Man Leaves His Father and Mother and Is United to His Wife
That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.
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9. 1 Corinthians 7:3-4 – The Husband Should Fulfill His Marital Duty to His Wife
The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife.
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10. Proverbs 18:22 – He Who Finds a Wife Finds What Is Good
He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord.
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11. Malachi 2:15 – Guard Yourself in Your Spirit
Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.
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12. Hebrews 13:4 – Marriage Should Be Honored by All
Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.
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13. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 – Love Is Patient, Love Is Kind
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
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14. Colossians 3:18 – Wives, Submit Yourselves to Your Husbands
Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
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15. Titus 2:4-5 – Train the Younger Women to Love Their Husbands
Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.
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16. Ecclesiastes 9:9 – Enjoy Life With Your Wife
Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun.
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17. Song of Solomon 4:7 – You Are Altogether Beautiful, My Darling
You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you.
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18. 1 Timothy 5:8 – Anyone Who Does Not Provide for Their Relatives Has Denied the Faith
Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
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19. Proverbs 5:18-19 – May Your Fountain Be Blessed
May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer—may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love.
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20. Philippians 2:3-4 – Value Others Above Yourselves
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
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21. 1 Corinthians 7:10-11 – A Wife Must Not Separate From Her Husband
To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.
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22. Proverbs 12:4 – A Wife of Noble Character Is Her Husband’s Crown
A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones.
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23. 1 Corinthians 11:11 – In the Lord Woman Is Not Independent of Man
Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman.
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24. Mark 10:9 – What God Has Joined Together, Let No One Separate
Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.
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25. Romans 12:10 – Honor One Another Above Yourselves
Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
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26. Ephesians 5:28-29 – Husbands Ought to Love Their Wives as Their Own Bodies
In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church.
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27. Proverbs 31:10-12 – A Wife of Noble Character Who Can Find?
A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.
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28. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 – Encourage One Another and Build Each Other Up
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
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29. Song of Solomon 8:6-7 – Love Is as Strong as Death
Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If one were to give all the wealth of one’s house for love, it would be utterly scorned.
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30. Ephesians 4:2 – Be Patient, Bearing With One Another in Love
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
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31. 1 Corinthians 7:28 – Those Who Marry Will Face Many Troubles
But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.
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32. Proverbs 19:14 – A Prudent Wife Is From the Lord
Houses and wealth are inherited from parents, but a prudent wife is from the Lord.
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33. Matthew 19:5-6 – The Two Will Become One Flesh
And said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.
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34. 1 Peter 4:8 – Love Covers Over a Multitude of Sins
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
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35. Ephesians 4:32 – Be Kind and Compassionate to One Another
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
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Our Thoughts On What the Bible Says About Honoring Spouses
Honoring your spouse means treating them with the respect and dignity they deserve as an image-bearer of God, regardless of how you feel on any given day. Feelings fluctuate, but honor is a choice. You honor your spouse through respectful speech, even in disagreement. You honor them by keeping confidences rather than airing marital issues to others. You honor them through sexual faithfulness, preferring them above all others. You honor them by prioritizing the marriage relationship over parents, children, friends, and career. Honor shows up in a thousand daily decisions to elevate rather than diminish your spouse.
First Peter 3:7 warns husbands that treating wives with dishonor hinders prayers. That’s sobering. How you treat your spouse affects your relationship with God. You can’t claim to love God while dishonoring the person He gave you. Wives are called to respect husbands not because men deserve it automatically but because respect meets a deep need in men the way love meets a deep need in women. Mutual honor and submission, where both spouses prefer the other’s needs, creates the environment where marriage flourishes.
Honoring your spouse also means refusing contempt, which Gottman identifies as the number one predictor of divorce. Contempt communicates that your spouse is beneath you, unworthy of respect. It shows up in mockery, sarcasm, eye-rolling, and treating your spouse as less than. Honor is the opposite: treating your spouse as valuable, listening respectfully even in disagreement, speaking well of them to others, and consistently demonstrating that they matter deeply to you. Honor doesn’t require perfection from your spouse; it’s a gift you give regardless of whether they’ve earned it.
Say This Prayer
Heavenly Father, I confess that I don’t always honor my spouse the way I should. I let irritation, disappointment, and familiarity erode the respect and honor they deserve. I speak harshly, criticize publicly, and prioritize other things over our marriage. Forgive me for dishonoring the person You gave me.
Help me to treat my spouse with the respect and dignity they deserve as Your image-bearer. Teach me to speak respectfully even in disagreement, to keep confidences rather than sharing marital issues inappropriately, and to prioritize our marriage relationship above other relationships.
Give me love that is patient and kind, that doesn’t keep records of wrongs, and that always protects, trusts, hopes, and perseveres. Help me to submit to my spouse out of reverence for You, preferring their needs above my own. Let me honor them consistently through both words and actions.
Break any patterns of contempt, mockery, or disrespect in how I treat my spouse. Replace them with genuine honor that values them regardless of their performance. Help me to build them up rather than tear them down, to celebrate them rather than criticize them. Let our marriage honor You.
In Jesus’ unifying Name, Amen.
Evang. Anabelle Thompson is the founder of Believers Refuge, a Scripture-based resource that helps Christians to find biblical guidance for life’s challenges.
With over 15 years of ministry experience and a decade of dedicated Bible study, she creates content that connects believers with relevant Scripture for their daily struggles.
Her work has reached over 76,000 monthly readers (which is projected to reach 100,000 readers by the end of 2025) seeking practical faith applications, biblical encouragement, and spiritual guidance rooted in God’s Word.
She writes from personal experience, having walked through seasons of waiting, breakthrough, and spiritual growth that inform her teaching.
Evang. Thompson brings 12 years of active ministry and evangelism experience, along with over 10 years of systematic Bible study and theological research.
As a former small group leader and Sunday school teacher, she has published over 200 biblical resources and devotional studies.
She specializes in applying Scripture to everyday life challenges and regularly studies the original Hebrew and Greek texts for a deeper biblical understanding.