(Eph 5:22 NKJV) Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
Yesterday we touched base on a tiny little piece of how husbands should treat their wives. Today we’d like to take a look at a piece of how wives should handle their end of things.
Wives are instructed in this verse to submit to the husbands. This is a hard thing for some people to swallow and a lot of that arises from the fact that this verse has been used by ill-intentioned men to abuse their wives under the guise of “being the heads of their homes”.
This is very sad, because it has caused many women to live in fear of their husbands. This is a topic where much time could be spent, but for today we’d like to talk a little more about the submission part of being a wife, from a Biblical perspective, not from man’s warped ideas.
God’s word instructs women to submit to their husbands in a healthy, holy way, where the wife loves and respects her husband and gets love and respect in return.
God has placed the man as the head of the household for purposes of protection and security. In a proper, balanced relationship there will never be manipulation or control on the part of the husband or the wife. And the husband will be, in a symbolic way, the savior of the household. He should provide for and protect his home and his family.
This should never be taken to extremes or abused.
Women should respect their husbands and honor them, remembering that men have feelings and a need for love and compassion. Each man is different and may need different amounts of attention, based on his personality, but men should never be seen as rocks that have no emotional needs.
Ultimately, in a properly balanced relationship, the wife will have no problems submitting to and respecting her husband.
Regardless of how well or how poorly a husband handles his end of things, wives should never taunt, antagonize or provoke their husbands with their words or their actions. This includes flirting with other men, dressing provocatively around other men, etc. These types of behavior are wrong, whether the marriage is going well or not.
The subject of marriage and the building of a healthy marriage relationship is one that can be discussed at length and from so many different angles and points of view. It’s a topic that can get very heated because there are so many unbalanced relationships out there.
So we want to encourage the wives to be at their best, honoring God in your marriage, just as we encourage the men to love and respect their wives, honoring God.
Please feel free to contact us if you have questions, prayer needs or anything else related to marriage. We are more than happy to help.
Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie
Seven Seas Ministries
401-377-5400
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