Nevertheless, each one of you must also love his own wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
Ephesians 5:33
Into the Text
As Paul continues to encourage Christians to unity and to reflect Christ in our relationships with one another, he moves into the relationship of marriage.
Marriage is a gift from God meant to reflect the love that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit have with one another. While marriage is a relationship between two sinful individuals, Christian marriages are meant to look different from the world.
Within marriage, each individual has a specific role to play. Wives are to submit to their husbands. This is not something that we like to hear today because many have twisted this Scriptural command. The call to submit to one’s husband does not mean enduring abuse, demeaning acts, or silencing. Instead, it means respecting our husband, allowing him to lead, being his most trusted helper, and encouraging him as he seeks to follow Christ and set the standard of a God-fearing household.
Now, this does not mean that the husband is off the hook. He is called to love his wife as Christ loved the church. How did Christ love the church? He gave everything, including his life, in order for us to live a full and forgiven life. Husbands are called to give up everything in order to see their wives, children, and family thrive and flourish in their relationship with Jesus. This is not a light call.
God is intentional in all His designs. Marriage is a picture of God’s perfect love, and it is another means that we can experience a picture of God’s love and share the light of Christ to the world around us.
Prayer
God, thank you for creating marriage. I pray that I would model your love as I submit to my husband. Help the marriages around me to flourish and be lights for you. Amen.