Ephesians 5:21 ” Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”
Recently, I attended a wedding rehearsal for a couple of which my husband, Earl was going to marry the next day. The bride was stunning, and she was the daughter of a wonderfully gentle and kind couple that are members of our church.
Rehearsal Dinner
At the rehearsal dinner, after finishing a delectable meal, the groom’s parents stood and toasted the couple and asked if anyone else had anything to say. Family and friends stood and told stories and wished them the best, and then a lovely young woman in her mid-twenties stood and offered the couple some advice. She said that the Bible has the answers to all life’s questions and whenever she needed to know something about marriage and relationships, she looked in her Bible. For instance, if she wants to know about love, she reads 1 Corinthians 13, and if she wants to know how God created a man for a woman, she reads Genesis 2: 21, and if she wants to know how the marriage relationship between a man and woman is supposed to be, it can be found that a wife is to be submissive to her husband from Ephesians 5 and that a husband is to love his wife and give himself up for her. I was genuinely pleased by her public stance and her commitment to her friend (the bride) to help her see what God calls for in a marriage relationship.
Many women get their backs up whenever this topic is broached. But surely it is only because they don’t really understand the profound spiritual nature of what being submissive really means. Being submissive does NOT mean being a doormat nor does it mean to simply being subject to the passing whims of her husband.
The New Testament teaches that marriage serves as a symbol of the relationship of Christ and His Church. In the marriage relationship, it is the husband’s privilege to portray the headship of Christ over the family by his loving and sacrificial leadership. It should be in this case, be the wife’s privilege and high calling to submit to her husband who represents the head of the household and together to be submissive to the Lord Jesus Christ as the church Head.
Read Ephesians 5, but read the entire chapter, not just the section about the wife’s role. Ephesians states all the character traits that the husband must work toward in order to even begin to come close to what Christ desires for his as the head of the household. For the wife, there are perhaps two requirements in the whole chapter, to submit and to respect. Submission is the voluntary surrender of our rights and self-interest for the benefit of others and for the glory of God. Paul indicates that Christians, without exception, are to “be subject to one another.” In this regard, if husbands are truly subjecting (submitting) themselves to the will of Christ in their lives and are leading their family in a Christ directed manner, then wives should not try to deviate from that path nor be an obstacle in her husband’s pursuit of that goal.
One must respect and honor a husband that is walking in step with Christ. But the husband has a directive in this as well, beyond all that is stated in Ephesians 5, the Bible states, that he should seek her advice, as Elkanah and Abraham did (1 Samuel 1:23; Gen. 21:12), and yield to her when she is right. A wife, who is wise, will give wise counsel and tell her husband how she feels and what God may be placing on her heart. A husband should take his wife’s counsel to mind before making decisions for the family and then once a decision is made, the wife should honor her husband’s Christ-led decision.
I am very headstrong and opinionated, but I can tell you this, I have a husband that takes his life and lays it down for the sake of Christ. He walks the walk and talks the talk. He studies and prays hour upon hour every day. I love him, trust him, respect him and most of all, will follow him in any and all major directions that he feels called by God to make. This is not only being Biblically submissive on my part (which I did have to learn by the way) but a very, very wise move. For I know God has called me to be a helpmate to Earl (Genesis 2:20), to walk beside him in his ministry, and minister to him, to serve him and to care for him as he helps lead others to Christ. Therefore I gladly surrender, sacrifice and serve under Christ’s authority through my husband over this house for I see him daily doing the same under Christ and for our ultimate good.
Related articles
- A Good Wife… (essentialthingdevotions.com)
- Ephesians 5:21 The Christlike attitude of submission (calvinistview.com)
- Before you say I do (livingmoreabundantly.wordpress.com)
- Strength in Submission (awisewomaninthemaking.com)
It is 5 AM, and it is Palm Sunday. The only thing I hear is rain – a torrential downpour. This is the beginning of Holy Week. Earl is already in the shower, and I have to swing my feet off the bed and get down to the kitchen to get his breakfast cooking. It’s part of my ministry, and I’m happy to do it. I persevere to make sure that the work that the Lord has given me gets done. But it’s raining, and it feels like sleeping weather. My feet still hit the floor, and I get started.
Earl and I rarely, if ever, compete against each other. 
Earl also took up motorcycling about 5 years ago. From time to time, we take the bike out for rides and have even taken one out for a vacation – just driving through God’s country and enjoying the beauty all around us. We spent New Year’s Day 2013 on our bike, island hoping. Some of the prettiest roads we’ve ever been on are the oak-canopied roads right here on James Island and Johns Island. Earl has compiled quite a bit of garage jewelry with his motorcycles and the old automobiles that he has acquired over the years of our marriage. He does his own maintenance on his toys and his own repairs, which does save us quite a bit of money. He is not afraid to get down and swim in the oil to fix his own cars or those of his children. It’s a physical and mental exercise that when completed, grants him a sense of accomplishment.
