Does That Really Say, "Submit?"

A week ago when Daddy and I were traveling to the beach, he asked me to read Ephesians to him. He is thinking about doing a sermon series on this epistle of Paul's and wanted to hear it read to him again. I say "again," because he had just recently listened to it on Bible Gateway. You can always get a fresh perspective of Scripture every time you listen to or read it (as we mentioned in Wednesday's post). So I read it to him. When I got to chapter 5, I read this aloud to him from verse 22:

"Wives, control your husbands..."

I stopped and looked out of the corner of my eye at my husband. He looked back at me out of the corner of his eye and said, "Stop it," as I burst into giggles. He knew I was not reading the Word directly. It actually says, "Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything." For someone as independent and in control as me, that verse can be a tough pill to swallow. Submit? Are kidding? If there is one thing my personality does not willingly agree to it's that whole submit thing. I mean, for crying out loud, he could be wrong! And I'm just supposed to submit to that? 

But God does not intend that wives submit in a doormat fashion. Matter of fact, Paul clarifies his comment in verse 33 of Ephesians 5 where he tells wives to "respect" their husbands. God wants husbands and wives to be a team. He calls the wife a "helpmate" in Genesis 2:18 when He first creates woman. While the husband is submissive to God, Paul says just a paragraph later in Ephesians 5 that God calls the husband to care for his wife as Christ does for the church. It's a pretty good system. 

Someone is the CEO of a company. Someone makes the decisions and is responsible for them. In God's eyes, the husband is that of the married couple. While those decisions are made jointly, in prayer and with love, the buck stops with the hubby. Now we know our girls: both Ayla and Kayla are strong women. They are stubborn, intelligent and independent ladies. Praise God for that, because Rob and Anton are not getting patsy girls. They can count on getting honest advice from their future wives. But with that means, the girls will have to sometimes tone it down a bit in respect to their future husbands. Speaking from experience, trust me, that can be a difficult process. But know that God places quite a bit of responsibility on the husbands as head of the household. And with prayer, as a team, you couples will do so well in serving and making decisions in Christ for God.

So hang in there, couples. God's got a workable program there that requires cooperation. And having watched you interacting in the past, we already see it working.

Discussion: Is submit a tough thing for ladies to hear? Guy, what do you think of the responsibility God places on you as head of the spiritual household? How do you couples think that will play out in your future marriages?

Prayer: Lord, we are yours. We submit to your rule, authority, love and direction. We know You have our best interests at heart. Father, we pray we can be a good team in serving you. That wives will respect their husband and husbands will love their wives sacrificially the same way Jesus does the church. May you be glorified in it all, Lord Jesus, Amen.