Another important attribute that is needed for good communication is respect. Without respect, communication will be troubled. Each partner should understand that their spouse is a valuable person and has much to offer in a discussion. Paul admonishes wives to honor their husbands in Ephesians 5:22-23.
Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.
Paul expected wives to respect their husbands as the head of the family. She should listen, and also speak to him, respectfully. This scripture is not telling the wife to be silent in the home, but to speak in a respectful manner, because the husband’s role is the head.
However, Peter also tells the husband to respect his wife.
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 (1 Peter 3:7).
Husbands and wives should respect one another, just as they are to love one another. Men and women are very different, in the way they talk, feel, think and speak; however, they each have something valuable to bring to the table. God made the woman as a “helper” for the man (Genesis 2:18), and one of the ways that she can help him is to give him advice and even correct him when she thinks he is making a mistake. For communication to be good, both husband and wife need to feel free to contribute to the discussion, and to be genuinely heard. If one of them refuses to contribute to a discussion, or if one of them refuses to listen respectfully to the other, then their marriage will not be healthy.