Submission At Its Best

Understanding the Biblical view of marriage is another big thing to look at. When we talk about a Biblical view of marriage most men jump straight to Ephesians 5:22:

22Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.

While this is true that wives have to submit to your husbands let's take a look at what Ephesians 5:21 says:

21Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

So this whole submit thing that men have been using on women for ages is something that they were suppose to be doing themselves. Very interesting. We all have to submit to one another, men you have to submit to your wife as she has to submit to you in the process. Now as we follow Paul in this section in Ephesians what does he say next?

23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.

So this word head used here. What exactly does it mean? Just as in the army we have someone who heads up a brigade or a platoon a family must have a head as well. But, does that position necessarily have a higher rank? Nope. When my brother was in the Army he was the head of his unit and yet he carried the same rank as 80% of his unit. What God is using Paul to tell us is that the man is the one held accountable and that God uses the women just as much as the man but so that there is order in the house He placed the man as the overseer.

24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

The church is under the authority of Christ and wives have to submit to this authority that is true, but if you remember Christ didn’t come to be served but to serve. So men is this the way that you are leading your family? Right now as many of you know my wife is pregnant with our second child. The first pregnancy went great until the preeclampsia around week 35, but this one has been a bugger from day one. Heather is sick almost everyday, doesn’t feel like must of anything. Now, I could take one of two approaches to this matter.

1) Heather is the wife and it is her duty to cook the meals and do the dishes and clean the house and do the laundry.

2) I could realize that all of the above mentioned things are family issues and that as not only part of the family but the head of the family it is my responsibility to handle up on these things.

As many of you know even before Heather got pregnant we view housework as a team effort as I do most of marriage. So we did these things together. Now that she is not feeling so well, it has fallen on me to do most if not all the housework. Of course she is doing all of the pregnant work. So in this submission it is just like a team playing basketball, the captain leads the team but everyone is a major player, and when one has an off game everyone steps up their game to assist in the victory!!!

25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her

Now it’s this section that I get a kick out of. I mean we find out that in verse 21 we all have to submit, so that means in verse 22 women are just doing what everyone else is doing. But here, here we see where men have to love their wives just as Christ loved to Church. He even gave His life for the church. We are to do that to our wives as well.

After looking at all this it does make me want to ask, “Can I change teams?” Just kidding. I love the live that I have because I love the wife that I have. Isn’t it funny how that statement goes together? I love the life that I have because I love the wife that I have.