Skip to main content

Ephesians 5:24

Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
(NIV)
No one doubts the role of the church. The church is clearly to submit to Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior, but this command is very clear concerning wives. They are to submit to the husband. In fact, they are to submit to him in the same way as the church submits to Christ. There is no other option, no other loop-hole command.

When the husband is fulfilling His role, which will come up in the next few verses, this task becomes much easier. The challenge comes when there is a husband who is not fulfilling his role. The woman must not presume upon herself though; if she truly desires God to work in the heart of her husband, if she wants that husband to fulfill his godly role as a husband, then she must start with herself.

What does this look like? A wife must submit to the authority of her husband in all things. The only exceptions would be if the husband is asking her to do things that would not please God, because as the apostles put it, "... we ought to obey God rather than men." Also if there is a true threat of physical harm to either the wife or her children, this would constitute fleeing the situation, but not divorce. In both of these extreme situations, if the wife can still submit in whatever ways that she can, this attitude may yet win her husband.

I Peter 3:1 states,
"Wives, in the same way be submissive to your 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..."

God's plan is always the best plan. Begin trusting Him today, not just in word, but in daily life.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Hebrews 11:23

By faith Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king's edict. (NIV) My first thought when I read this was, "Well, what parent doesn't think that?" Most parents think that their child is no ordinary child those first three months. I know that I still think of my two boys as extraordinary. I know that the creator God has designed them in a unique way. I know that they have talents that have been given to them to serve the King. I may not get the chance to see my son stand toe to toe with a pharaoh of Egypt or call down plagues, but I do think that I will get the chance to see them serve their purpose. I also want to point out that Moses' parents hid him for those three months. They didn't flaunt him, the chose a course of action that was very practical. Some would have you think that if it isn't flamboyant and take unnecessary risks, then it isn't fai...

Psalm 139:17-18

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you. (ESV) Saying that God's thoughts are precious is a two fold statement.   First, it is a statement of reality.  For David, God's thoughts had become precious becaus he was beginning to understand what God was thinking about.   Second, it is a statement of theory.  God's thoughts should be precious to us.  We should begin to put  a high priority on what God is thinking about us.  So, we begin to think of God's thoughts the way we should, which will lead us to a better understanding of reality.

Ephesians 5:25

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her (NIV) The husband's role is to love the wife. The degree, or the measure, of this love is comparable to Christ's love for the church. To get a demonstration of the extent of Christ's love for the church, simply look at the cross. This is a great love, it is a sacrificial love, and it is a love that holds no room for selfishness. I am fighting the urge to elaborate, but I believe that if a man really looks to the cross, my elaborations will seem trivial. The man who seeks to love their wife the way Christ loved the church must be calling on Christ daily for His grace. He is the only originator of this kind of love. If you are a husband, look to the cross today. Compare your love... not to the bad husbands of the world, compare your love to Christ and what He did on the cross. Then call on Him to enable you to live that kind of love.