~Ephesians 5:22
This is probably the most unpopular verse in the Bible for women,
and one of the most abused by men. What does submitting to your husband mean?
Is this just a way for men to control women? Before you decide the Bible is
anti-female, let me assure you, it’s not. In fact, this verse doesn’t mean what
most people think it does, and it is most definitely not intended to be used as
an excuse for men to run roughshod over women.
In everything that God does, there is an order. There’s an order
in the church -- Christ is head of the church, a pastor is second-in-command,
followed by the associate pastor, and then any others, such as deacons or
whatever an individual church calls their support ministry. Every person in a
church is subject to their pastor, who is subject to God. However, the pastor
is also subject to his congregation in the sense that if a pastor is stepping
outside of biblical parameters for his position, the church body has a
responsibility to say something to ensure the integrity of the church.
As a whole, society is built on the same order as the church. We
have a government that is responsible for the nation, with individual state
governments, county governments, city and local governments that are all
responsible for the people of that area. Each of us are subject to local,
state, and federal laws. All of these are designed to keep peace and order for
the citizens, and to ensure our individual liberties and protection as human
beings.
But order and peace begin within the home. Without biblical order
in the home, we find that the family begins to deteriorate, children become
unruly, and we see that happening more and more. Women are becoming the heads
of households, and are single parents raising and trying to support their
children on their own. This was not God’s design for the home.
God’s design is for a godly home, where parents are devoted to
Jesus Christ, and put Jesus as head of their own lives first. In a godly home
the husband is the head of the family. This does not mean the husband is to
dominate his wife and children, but that he is submitted to, and under the rule
of, Jesus Christ. It means he is responsible for his family’s support, care,
and welfare, and he answers to God for his family.
A man is to “cleave” to his wife (Genesis 2:24). In other words,
they are to be glued together. They are to be “one flesh” (Mark 10:8), and are
to consider their bodies as belonging to the other spouse (1 Corinthians 7:4).
As the husband submits himself to Jesus Christ as Lord of his
life, he is under the protection of God. In the same way, when women submit to
their husbands, they come under his protection. When it’s storming out, we put on
our jackets and get out the umbrella to be protected from the elements. In the
same way, when we submit, we come under the umbrella of the protection of our
husbands who are under the umbrella of protection of God.
This is why it is so important to make sure that we marry a godly
man. We are to wait for the Lord to bring us our husbands. But even men who are
in the church are not always what they seem, so we have to enter into these
relationships with prayer, godly advice, and the assurance that the person we
are about to marry for life is truly the person God wants us to marry for life.
“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership
has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
(2 Corinthians 6:14).”
In the same way, men must choose their wives through prayer and
godly counsel because, “It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in
a house shared with a quarrelsome wife (Proverbs 25:24).”
From Shine His Light by Marie McGaha
©2017 DWB Publishing
Read Isaiah 12-17
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your comment. I appreciate you taking the time to stop by!