A constant dripping on a day of steady rain and a contentious woman are alike.
Proverbs 27:15 (NASB)
Remember the story of Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving? Constantly scolded by his wife for leading an idle and worthless existence, she becomes thoroughly angry with him one day and drives him from the house. In the face of a terrible storm Rip wanders toward the mountains. There he meets gnomes who give him some magic schnapps to drink, and under its influence he goes to sleep for 20 years. A 20-year-long nap away from a nagging woman may sound appealing to men, but in this case after waking up, he finds his wife missing, his house dilapidated, and the world much changed.
What nagged husband would not want to sip Van Winkle’s elixir to escape? Seriously, though, why do women nag? Nagging makes everyone miserable. To nag is to find fault incessantly, to criticize and complain and even resort to scolding. Yikes! Do I nag? The word even sounds unpleasant!
Scripture offers a wonderful antidote for nagging. It’s found in Ephesians 4:29 which says, Let no unwholesome [unpleasant or disagreeable] word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification [building up others] according to the need [and occasion] of the moment, that it may give grace [(be a blessing] to those who hear.
This verse does not say there is no occasion to talk about what needs addressing but hints there is a right occasion. To combat nagging in our marriage, we formed an informal corporation under divine authority—The DelHousaye Corporation—with Darryl as president and myself as vice president. Our staff meetings? Every Wednesday over the lunch hour. Our agenda? Discussing what is not working and what needs to be done—thus eliminating the need for nagging! Yay! Just think of it! If we all adopted this idea we could stamp out nagging altogether!