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I am facing very rough pace in my family life. My wife asked for mutual divorce. Her mother is supporting her in all her wrong doings, instead of stopping her and accusing me for the wrong doings. I have done all that I can, like leaving a job in Delhi to come back to Hyderabad so that she can be near her parents. Served her father when he was ill. Took care of her sisters when they need me, etc. All she does is always think of her mother, sisters & father. She never knows if I have a good Tooth brush, if she finds tooth brush new, she thinks of her sisters and mother on who's brush is old so that she can give this new one. No we have a child, its already 40 days and they never treat me as the father of child, except if there is requirement of money or some required my precense in some comunity gathering or something like that. The reasons I have given are the very basic once.

Moreover her mother wants me to stop comming to church and follow her hindu gods.

In the above case how should I handle/treat my wife?

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This is a great question, unfortunately I don't think it fits well with this site's format. You seem to be seeking general pastoral advice. I strongly suggest you speak to your local pastor or other church elders or counselors for advice in your specific situation. For specific principles on how to respond to a non-believing wife, or in-laws, etc, I'm sure you could come up with a question well suited for this site. – Flimzy Oct 18 '11 at 19:10
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As Flimzy mentioned, this site isn't well suited for this type of question. We, as a community, have decided that pastoral questions really do not belong here. Please consult with a local clergy member regarding these issues as these types of questions are too complicated for this format. See also "What about my other questions?" in the faq. – Richard Oct 18 '11 at 19:25
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Satya I feel for your situation. Others have mentioned how this site is actually a secular venue (not everyone here answering is even Christian) for factual questions about doctrine; we are not equipped to handle the kind of counseling you clearly need. As a human and brother in Christ I will say myself and at least a few others will pray for you, but please find a local church that has a pastor, elders or others who are Biblically sound and experienced in counseling that can help guide you and pray with you so you make wise choices in this very difficult situation. – Caleb♦ Oct 18 '11 at 20:49
Also, while I'm not trying to answer your question, you might find this passage from 1 Corinthians 7 useful. – Richard Oct 20 '11 at 14:53

closed as too localized by DJClayworth, Richard Oct 18 '11 at 19:25

This question is unlikely to help any future visitors; it is only relevant to a small geographic area, a specific moment in time, or an extraordinarily narrow situation that is not generally applicable to the worldwide audience of the internet. For help making this question more broadly applicable, see the FAQ.

1 Answer

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This may not be the best place for questions like this, but I deeply feel your pain.

The Bible does give us guidelines in how to treat wives:

Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her. Ephesians 5:25 ESV

1 Peter speaks to wives who have unbelieving husbands, which may be applicable in reverse to you:

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. 1 Peter 3:1-2 NIV

Obviously, you cannot worship the gods of Hinduism. Perhaps your mother-in-law needs to understand that this would be one of the greatest sins you could commit as a Christian. It may be good to ask her on what basis she believes Hinduism is true and why she believes Christianity is false. If she is willing to take the challenge of investigating both Hinduism and Christianity, that could really open her eyes.

I would recommend the book, "The Death of a Guru"--a story of how one Hindu became a Christian. There are others as well. I pray you find strength and peace in Christ.

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"It may be good to ask her on what basis she believes Hinduism is true and why she believes Christianity is false." Why assume she believes that? Her approach to religion may very well not be belief-centered. Different people approach religion in remarkably different ways. – TRiG Apr 16 '12 at 21:26

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