Few things get liberal minded people upset more than the
topic of wives submitting to their husbands. While
this thought is attacked as being outdated and
unenlightened, it is anything but this. Submission is
an idea that is greatly misunderstood by Christians and
non-Christians alike.
While most people take the submission of wives out of
context, Paul writes much more than what is commonly
repeated in Ephesians 5:22-25.
22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 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. 24 Now as
the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to
their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the
church and gave himself up for her.
Many people fear that submission means that the wife
quietly does as the husband says and has no say in the
affairs of marriage or the family. This could not be
further from the truth however. Lost in the repulsive
idea of women submitting is verse 25 that calls for husbands
to love their wives as Christ loved the church.
It is a far greater task for a husband to display the
love of Christ than it is for a woman to submit to her
husband. This is far more than saying "I love you" and
displaying some affection for one's wife. Christ gave
all He had for the church, even to the point of sacrificing
His life. This is the kind of love that husband are
told to have for their wives.
This means that a husband is not self seeking in anything
that he asks of his wife. Instead, everything that he
does is for the good of his wife. He sacrifices his
own preferences, pleasure, and even well being for his
wife's benefit.
With this is mind, the idea of submission does not sound
nearly as bad. A truly loving husband is not going to
request anything of his wife that will harm her in any way.
Instead, what he requests is for his wife's benefit.
When a husband has consistently shown that he is looking
out for his wife, what he requests will not be hard to
follow. Submission is easy when a wife trusts her
husband and knows that it is for her good.
