Wives, Submit

12-05pm

So, if you could only state TWO most important priorities in marriage, what would they be? While I pondered this, reflecting on how important it is for me to respect my husband, to continue to love him, to appreciate him, listen to him, pray for him, I came down with two very short sentences

1.  Love God first.
2. Love your spouse second.

I have found, in my life, by putting God first, He molds me into the person He wants me to be. I become someone who is loving and kind,  because I have His Spirit in me and He is loving and kind. The Bible gives interesting guidelines for women in marriage. Wives, Submit is probably the hardest Biblical pill to swallow. It is very non politically correct today! Many of the marriage vows exchanged at the altar leave it out, even when the avid declaration to stay together ‘until death’ is left in.

Here’s an idea…(from my own head!)

• Some
• Use
• Biblical
• Marriage
• Instruction
• Thoroughly

When you obey the Bible, you are submitting to God.

Here’s the deal when it comes to wives submitting…..they are only half of the union. The husband is the other half – he is instructed to love. And because he is using Biblical marriage instruction thoroughly, he too will submit to God and love his wife. What happens then is that there is no power struggle. Because he loves her, he won’t ask something of her that is completely against her wishes.He will respect her opinion. He will take her desires and dreams into consideration. He too will love God first and love his spouse second.

When we both work towards pleasing God first and then the other, we find ourselves in the same boat, rowing the same way. We are a team. We want what’s best for the other. We defend the other. We encourage the other. We spur each other onward and upward to be the people in the marriage God wants us to be.

You can’t change the message of the Bible saying women submitted ‘in those days’ but not now. As much as “husbands love your wives” is as valid as today, so is “women submit to your husbands.”  Here’s the context. Ephesians 5:22-28

²² Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. ²³ For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. ²⁴ Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. ²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ²⁶ to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷ and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. ²⁸ In this same way, husbands ought to love their wivesas their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

Men have the tougher job!

Something to think about. Good reminder for ME.

Keep the smile going.

God bless you!

In His Grip,

Helga xx 🙂

Gratitude Pic…clean up on top of cupboards day….before….

After…