Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord.
Summary: Since at least the days of Queen Vashti and King Xerxes, there has been trouble between husbands and wives. Paul embarks on a bit of marriage counseling in this passage.
The first thing I want to say about this passage is this: If all husbands were like the Lord, wives probably wouldn’t mind submitting to them. Unfortunately, speaking in general terms, we men are not like the Lord. Not even close.
So why does Paul insist that wives should submit to their husbands?
The biblical answer goes clear back to the beginning of the Bible. Genesis 3:1-7 tells the story of mankind’s original rebellion against God. Adam and Eve both ate from the forbidden tree and as a result, suffered immediate consequences.
The first consequence was separation from God. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they became spiritually dead to him (Luke 15:31). Immediately, they discovered something that they had never experienced before; fear. They were afraid of God (Genesis 3:10).
We don’t know if they understood why they were afraid, but they were. At some level, they knew they had done wrong. In a short time, they would discover the consequences of doing wrong.
When God confronted them with their sin, he explained what would happen.
“To the woman he said,
‘I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
with painful labor you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.’” (Genesis 3:16)
Was God wrong?
I have never heard a woman say that giving birth is painless. On the contrary, it sounds like the pain of childbirth starts at “11” on the dial and goes up from there. And what about the rest of it? Is what God’s Word says true? Not being a woman, I can’t speak to that myself. However, if it is true, then Paul’s words dovetail perfectly with God’s words to Eve.
So what is the problem? The problem is that men can be jerks. Who wants to submit to someone self-centered and abusive? Who would want to obey a tyrant who treats the people around him like animals or worse?
In my view, mothers are the heart of the home. Children draw nourishment from their mothers, and if kids learn by example, mothers have a huge influence on their children’s development. Fathers, too, have a role to play (Ephesians 6:4). Together, a mother and father who are devoted to God stand a fair chance of raising godly children. Perhaps in time, a future generation of men will be less like jerks and more like the Lord. Wouldn’t that be nice?
Application: Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:21)
Food for Thought: How does a wife submitting to her husband reflect reverence for Christ?
How does a wife submitting to her husband reflect reverence for Christ?
….. sorry not touching this one. Happy wife happy life……. I just pray that we know and love God more and more so we can love our wives better.
Good prayer! 🙂
If she is really submitting to Christ as she submits to her husband, then she is doing so out of respect for the Lord Himself. So it is really Jesus she is aiming to please. It is similar to a person who submits to their boss because they want to honor Christ. It is really Christ they are aiming to please.
My wife was once serving people at a funeral reception and was being treated rather poorly. I told her I was going to say something to the family and she told me not to. When I said, “how can you serve them when they are treated you this way?” She said, “I am not serving them. I am serving Jesus.” That is the heart of the matter.
Brother Rich,
Thank you! It is indeed the “heart of the matter” — the heart of Christ!
R said it well.
He’s like that! 🙂
09-06-2023, How does a wife submitting to her husband reflect reverence for Christ?
If we believe the Bible is the inspired word of God, written for our benefit. Then we need to understand every word has been preserved by our loving God, who sacrificed His own Son for our sins, so we could experience eternal life, and growth in His presence, beginning now.
John 3:16, Jesus in submission to His Father, confined Himself to a body of flesh and lived among us for approximately 33 years, as He served all mankind by teaching, healing, feeding, grieving and submitted to allowing His created beings to physically abuse and murder Him, so we could receive salvation through His sacrifice.
Matthew 26:39, Mark 14:36, Luke 22:42, John 6:38, Jesus submitted to His Fathers will over His own. “ yet not as I will, but as You will. “
Philippians 2:7-8, But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Hanna, Job and many other great believers throughout the Old Testament submitted to Gods will for their lives.
Life in God is a life of submitting to God as we accept His will for our lives over our own. It is the battle we fight as we seek life and growth for our spirit and death to the desires of our flesh. Each believer seeks to become more Christlike but walks a different path to maturity.
Is too much to ask wives to submit to their husbands as a reflection of Christ in submission to His Father? I would think, as with Rich’s and many wives, the proper view of submission to one another is to honor Christ in us.
Ron,
Thank you!
In answer to your question, I suppose it depends on who is doing the asking. Husbands and wives constantly ask each other to submit either directly or by implication. When God asks us to do something, the question takes on an entirely different meaning.
Agree! I have heard some opposition to God’s word regarding this subject. In our home my wife and I serve each other because we love each other and want the other to be happy. It is not a duty, it is the fruit of Christian love between a husband and wife.
Blessings Brother,
Ron