COLOSSIANS 3:18

“Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.”

Boy, oh boy! This is not something you hear a lot today. Women subjecting themselves to their husbands? Are you kidding me? Aren’t we all equal? If you think about it, we are all subject to someone. I am subject to my boss. I am subject to the donors who support my ministry. I am subject to my church. I am subject, most of all, to God.

Paul discusses roles and relationships in the remainder of chapter 3. These verses are almost exactly what he wrote to the Ephesians in Ephesians chapters 5 and 6. Describing biblical roles in families is not sexist. It’s not chauvinistic. It’s not biased toward one person over another. It’s just the way God planned for us to function in families and communities.

APPLICATION

Men, before you get all high and mighty about this verse, ask yourself this question. Am I a man to whom a godly woman would want to subject herself to? Paul is going to the men in the next verse, so hang on. But we men need to prepare ourselves to be “subject worthy.”

In Ephesians 5:21-24, we read this, “21 and subject yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ. 22 Wives, subject yourselves to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.”

Most any God-fearing, God-loving woman would willingly submit herself to a man who is subjecting himself to Christ. That can be trusted. That’s a man whom she can feel secure in trusting. Do you know many men like that? I do. They love God much more than they love their wives. Wives really do love that. So, wives subject yourself to that kind of man.

Father, thank You that we can subject ourselves to You.

EPHESIANS 5:23

“For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.”

I like order. I like things in their place. I probably got that from my dad. He had a shop in the back of our house. In that shop was all kind of tools, wood, screws, nuts and bolts and a lot of other stuff he had collected over the years. But in that shop everything had its place.

God has an order to things, as we began to see in yesterday’s blog (check it out if you missed it). Father – Son (Jesus) – Husband – Wife. The Greek word for “head” used here means lord or ruler. Just as Jesus followed the lead of the Father, husbands are to follow Jesus, and the wife is to follow her husband. Again, as I said yesterday, this is God’s design, not mine. There is a purpose for everything God does, including the design for the home.

APPLICATION

Christ came to lead the church, to be the head of the church, but He was also the Savior of the body. He gave Himself freely to die on a cross for each and every believer. In the same way, husbands are to sacrifice themselves for their wives. Then and only then will the wives follow them and subject themselves. When a wife sees her husband making sacrifices for her, she is drawn to that. Some men sacrifice their hobbies (hunting, fishing, golfing) in order to spend more time with their wives and children. God will honor him for that sacrifice.

The “lordship” the husband has over his wife is never meant to be one of abuse or disadvantage. No, this lordship is only meant to show he is in control of himself and his family. His role as protector and priest of his household is key to the wife’s willingness to subject herself to his leadership. Remember, the comparison is to Christ. What an example!

Paul will continue his statements about the family for several verses. I would encourage you to read those verses (5:22-6:1) several times and ask the Lord what He would have you learn from His plan for the family. If your family does not look like these verses, pray and ask the Father what you need to do.

O Lord, help me be the husband/wife I need to be for my spouse.