15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Ephesians 5:15-16 NKJV
Scripture clearly and succinctly warns that the days are evil, we must walk in God’s wisdom if we want to be party to His redemption work.
And how fitting that these words begin a list of instructions to the believer as to how to live wisely in these evil days.
Verses 16-21 are excellent individual instruction, then the focus turns to marriage.
Wives are instructed first.
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.
Ephesians 5:22-24 NKJV
Again, scripture is teaching us how to walk in unity.
A wife who respects and submits to her husband as the head of the house is choosing to place herself in unity with him.
A wife needs to understand and practice submission to the Lord Jesus Christ, because in learning to trust Jesus with her life, she can also learn to trust Him with her husband’s.
Because submission to her husband is trusting God to direct and guide him as the head of the family.
Walking in submission to our husbands is another layer of walking in surrender to our Savior.
If a wife refuses to submit to her husband she is refusing to surrender to Christ Jesus, unless the husband is asking the wife to sin which divides her from Christ.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. 28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. 31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”
Ephesians 5:25-31 NKJV
The husband has a great responsibility indeed, it is his privilege and responsibility to live a life of love.
Christ’s love of the church is how husbands are to love their wives.
Not a life which is unstable, irresponsible, or self-centered, but a life surrendered to Christ, walking in the Word with diligence, patience, and integrity.
A husband is to set the needs of his wife before his own, to lovingly care for her with understanding and wisdom.
He is to nurture his wife as his own flesh, because God’s Word tells us that is unity.
When two people, who are one flesh before God, choose to surrender themselves first to Christ and then to one another they are living in unity, and partaking in His redemptive work.
Because a house divided against itself can not stand.
Psalm 127:1b NKJV …”Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it;…”
Dear Lord Jesus,
Thank You for Your Word. Thank You for teaching us these truths. Thank You for giving us such clear instruction as to how to join with You in redeeming the time. Lord, please help me to surrender to You in all things. Please help me to walk in submission, being wise and understanding Your truths. Lord, please help wives to learn these truths and to practice them daily. Lord, please help husbands to understand what You have called them to do. Please give them the courage to live in unity with You and their wives. Teach them what true love is. Lord Jesus, build our families upon Your Word, that we might not be divided. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.
patientlyhopeful 