Proverbs 12:4
An excellent wife is the crown of her husband,
But she who causes shame is like rottenness in his bones.

The end of Proverbs speaks more about the virtuous wife but here the writer touches on the subject of the excellent wife.
I can easily speak from experience because I have an excellent wife.
She prays for me.
She instructs me and corrects me, when I need it.
She is in ministry with me and has her own.

I’ve performed many marriage ceremonies for couples throughout the years – couples that looked at each other with dreamy eyes and visions of a cute little house with a white picket fence and flower beds in the yard.
Years later they divorced because their love soured.
Their respect for each other wavered.
They spoke harsh words without any compassion.

It was not just the fault of the wife nor the husband, although both would blame the other.
This marriage failed because shame was brought into it from one or both.
This became rottenness to this couple.
Unwilling to cleanse the rottenness, it continued to grow and putrify the marriage.

How can a couple save a marriage?
Without death, there is no reconciliation. One, or both, must die to self to serve the other. However, self-serving pride does not let it happen so rid yourselves of it and replace it with God’s word and living as He wants you to live.
In this way you have an excellent wife, excellent husband, and an excellent marriage.