Genesis 3:16

To the woman he said,

“I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth.
In pain you will bear children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.”

Pain isn’t what God intended, but when we sinned we earned both death and pain. Even though childbirth was intended to be a wonderful thing, sin caused it to become a thing that would also bring some of the most terrible pain a woman can experience. In a perfect world, the pain would not have been there.

The second part of this curse is a bit harder to understand in this translation. It says that the woman would “desire for” her husband but that he would rule over her. Some interpreters suggest that it should be translated differently. Look how the New Living Translations translates it: “And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.” Many Christian women confess that this is exactly what they feel in their flesh and that it requires dependence on the Holy Spirit to willingly submit to the will of their husbands in
marriage. Notice that “ruling” and “submitting” aren’t the same thing. Ruling has to do with what a husband does in relationship to his wife under the curse. Submission is a choice that only the woman can make. Submission is what God asks Christian wives to do. When a wife submits, there is no need for the husband to “rule over her.” She is already ruling over herself! In this light, submission is a free act that, I believe, heals an otherwise cursed relationship. Living in submission is a blessing, but as I keep saying, this requires power from the Holy Spirit. When a woman takes this action she takes ground away from Satan and is acting to bring strength to her marriage. I want to make it clear that I am not condoning submission to abusive relationships. I am talking about a healthy Christian marriage.