8. For married Christians, what counsel is especially noteworthy?

⁸ Among Christians already married, what is needed for a home of rest and peace? Many things, of course, but especially noteworthy is Paul’s counsel at Ephesians 5:21-33.

Let each one of you individually so love his wife as he does himself.” A husband should ‘love his wife as he does himself’​—as if she were himself. How appropriate, since ‘the two have become one flesh’!​—Genesis 2:24.

10. In view of 1 Timothy 5:8, what responsibility does a Christian husband have?

¹⁰ A husband who loves his wife as he does himself will take the lead in spiritual matters. He bears responsibility for the situation existing in his family and cannot rightly let things slide along, as it were. No, he must care well for the material and spiritual interests of the entire household. “Certainly,” said Paul, “if anyone does not provide for those who are his own, and especially for those who are members of his household, he has disowned the faith and is worse than a person without faith.”​—1 Timothy 5:8.

11. What counsel does Paul provide for Christian wives?

¹¹ A Christian wife can do much to make the home a place of rest and peace. For wives, Paul offers this inspired counsel: “Let wives be in subjection to their husbands as to the Lord, because a husband is head of his wife as the Christ also is head of the congregation, he being a savior of this body. In fact, as the congregation is in subjection to the Christ, so let wives also be to their husbands in everything. . . . The wife should have deep respect for her husband.” (Ephesians 5:22-24, 33) This “deep respect” contributes toward making the home a place of rest and peace. Surely, it differs greatly from the attitude of so many worldly wives who have an independent, challenging spirit that disturbs and upsets a home.

12. How should Christian husbands and wives act?

¹² Christian husbands and wives need to act in ways that promote love and respect. The husband should be considerate, loving, spiritually mature. And the wife should be God-fearing, cooperative, lovable. It is not difficult to see how such attitudes would make a home a place of rest and peace.