SATURDAY July 6, 2024

Submission in Marriage God’s Way

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

Paul turned his attention to teaching about godly submission in the marriage relationship. Before we move forward into the subject about the husbands and wives’ roles, it is good to remember what was first taught in Ephesians 5:21: ...submitting to one another in the fear of God. Any submission to one another is to be done in reverence to the Lord.

As Christians, we are to first submit to God and the Holy Spirit. 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 their reverence toward God, they will love and respect each other in everything they say and do.

Being submissive to God and walking in the fullness of the Spirit is the only way a husband and wife can really get along. Some husbands have the wrong concept of marriage. They try to demand their wives’ submission. I would ask them, “What version of the Bible are you reading?”

There is no way a wife can submit to her husband if he is not loving her. As a husband, consider your role in the marriage: Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her... (Ephesians 5:25). Ask the Lord to help you do just that––love your wife.

A husband should love his wife with a constant love, for thus Jesus loves His Church. He does not vary in His affections. He may change in His display of affection, but the affection itself is still the same ... A true husband loves his wife with a hearty love, fervent and intense. It is not mere lip-service.
~C.H. Spurgeon~

For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!