TUESDAY July 27, 2021
A Wife’s Submission
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.
Ephesians 5:22-24
In teaching about submission, Paul will address relationships in marriage, children with their parents, and employees with their employers and vice versa. Before we move forward, it is good to remember what was first taught in Ephesians 5:21: ...submitting to one another in the fear of God. Submission to one another is to be done in reverence to the Lord.
As Christians, we are to submit to God and the Holy Spirit. Being submissive to God and walking in the fullness of the Spirit is the only way a husband and wife can get along. It is the only way we can be godly parents to our children, and for children to obey their parents. It is the same principle given in becoming a good employee to our employer, and to be a good employer to our employees. As we walk in the Spirit and in total submission to God, it will make us good citizens of this world.
A husband may demand of his wife, “The Bible says you are to be submissive to me!” He expects his wife to say, “Yes sir!” I would ask this husband, “In what version of the Bible are you reading this, or are you making up your own translation?” Again, the Bible states in Ephesians 5:21 that we are to be: ...submitting to one another in the fear of God.
The word submit is actually a military term. It is the Greek word hupotasso “to be under submission,” as in position or rank. Consider who is over us? It is Jesus Christ! If both the husband and wife are in submission to Jesus Christ, then they will both have the fear of the Lord. In reverence toward God, they will love and respect each other in everything they say and do.
Jesus submitted His will to the Father’s will to die on the Cross for our sins! He became a Servant––follow His example of submission.
Christian marriage is marked by discipline and self-denial. ... Christianity does not therefore depreciate marriage, it sanctifies it.
~Dietrich Bonhoeffer~
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