22Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23For the
husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church,
his body, of which he is the Savior. 24Now as the church submits to
Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and
gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing[a] her by the
washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to himself
as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish,
but holy and blameless. 28In this same way, husbands ought to love
their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves
himself. 29After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds
and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— 30for we are
members of his body. 31"For this reason a man will leave his father
and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one
flesh."[b] 32This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about
Christ and the church. 33However, each one of you also must love his
wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
Paul compares
rightly(Ephesians 5:22-33) that a marriage between a husband and
wife are exactly the relationship between Christ and the Church.
Three points are brought out, submission, Love, and Respect.
Submission(verse 22-24) - That the wife is to submit to her husband
in everything. In the same respect the Church is to submit
to Christ in everything.
Husbands are to Love their wives(verse 25-32) - Husbands are
commanded to love their wives as Christ loved the Church. Christ
loved the church so much that he gave up His life for her. The
husband must always be prepared to sacrifice himself for his wife!
That is the true essence of love!
Wives are to respect their Husbands(verse 33) - As the wives are
commanded to respect their husbands, in the same fashion the Church
is commanded to respect Christ!
The two things that strike me directly is what the wife is commanded
to do, versus what the husband is commanded to do.
The Husbands are commanded to love, while the wives are commanded to
respect. I know this point is huge. Wives feed on
love, and their world is love based. While the Husband feeds on
respect, as their world is respect based.
The husbands are commanded to Love their wives, because love is a
foreign to men. Men are so respect based they need to be told to
love. Husbands are stuck because they say they respect their wives
because that is what is so natural to them, they tend to forget to
tell them that they love them. The woman needs to feel loved, and
does not understand respect. For a Husband to say to his wife, I
respect you but I do not love you. The wife will only hear 'not love
you' and nothing else.
The wives, in turn, are commanded to respect their husbands because
respect is foreign to women. Women are so love based
that they don't understand what respect is. A wife tells her husband
that she loves him. The husband does not respond to it well
because he wants his wife to respect him. For a wife to say to a
husband, that she loves him but cannot respect him or his
decisions. The husband hears only the lack of respect and nothing
else.
This ties in to what the Church is doing today. They must respect
Christ. Yet today Churches are allowing homosexuality, sex outside
of wedlock, and changing the Bible to suit their purposes. The
Church says they love Christ, but do not respect his teaching or
submit to Christ's will. I have even seen Churches change hymns to
soften them for the world.
One such example was from the hymn "Amazing Grace", the line
"Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me" was
changed to "Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a person
like me". We are wretches and all have fallen short of the Glory of
God(Romans 3:23). When any Church changes what Christ has put in
place, this Church is telling Christ they love but don't respect
him.
I heard a story about a wife who decided that she would tell her
husband, that she respected him and his decisions. She decided that
she would not mention love but would work on respecting him. She
reported that her husband turned his attitude around. He would now
listen to her opinion, and even learned to tell her what she wanted
to hear so much, that he loved her. She used to think about divorce,
but now this is a foreign concept to her.
Right now over half of the marriages that occur, will fail. Imagine
if we all applied ourselves as this wife did how this rate would
drop. How others looking in, will once again see marriage as a good
thing. Applied to the Church, this would again cause revivals in
biblical proportions(Acts 2:47). Three thousand believers were added
that day, and they preached and did not soften the word to attract
others.
My Wife had written her wedding vows as follows...
The day you
agreed to be mine, I thought I couldn't be happier. But, I was
wrong. Today I became the happiest ever. I feel so blessed to have
you, and I promise you that I will spend every day of my life making
those lips smile deeper and those eyes
shine brighter. I swear my love for you will strengthen with the
years. I will try with all I am never to be the cause of even one
tear or to give you one second of hurt. We've both had to overcome a
lot of obstacles to be together. the were all worth it
for us to spend the rest of our lives together. I promise to love
you until the end of time. I love you so very much.
How can anyone argue with such a vow? This is a vow that the Church
needs to make to Christ. This is a vow that needs to be
remembered forever.
22Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23For the
husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church,
his body, of which he is the Savior.