Ephesians chapter 5 verse 1, Paul writes:
“Wives, submit to your husbands!”
This single line has upset a lot of people – mostly wives.
I’ll give a couple of reasons why you don’t need to be upset.
First, that isn’t actually the first verse of the chapter.
The first line of Ephesians 5 says:
“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.”
Context is important.
Whether you’re a man or a woman, you’re supposed to be an imitator of God.
The dreaded “SUBMIT TO YOUR HUSBAND” verse doesn’t appear for quite awhile.
There’s a lot of stuff about righteous living.
Then comes this:
“Â always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.” (Eph. 5:20-21)
Catch that last bit?
Be subject to one another.
Because Jesus made himself subject to you.
Whether you’re a man or a woman, Christ subjected himself to you.
So you shouldn’t be surprised when you’re ordered to “SUBMIT TO YOUR HUSBAND!!!!!”
Ladies, if you’re not sure how to submit to your husbands – imitate God.
Or imitate Jesus…means the same thing.
Jesus made himself subject to you.
He chose to serve you.
Men, if you’re not sure how to love your wives – imitate God.
He “gave himself up” for you.
Jesus love cost him everything.
Ephesians 5 turns marriage into a race.
The husband and wife compete to see who gets to finish 2nd.
Pretending to be Jesus will always result in sacrifice.
20 Responses
I learned many years ago from Pastor Jack Hayford that submission can only be given voluntarily – if someone is demanding it, then it’s not submission, but subjugation. The word translated “submission” is a military term and has to do with platoons going out on patrol – they have different formations depending on whether they are going house to house, down a jungle path, open terrain, etc., and each formation affords the maximum protection for each member of the platoon from enemy attack. So husbands and wives submitting to each other is to have each other’s back to protect each other and their marriage from Satan’s relentless attacks.
I don’t remember which wise pastor I heard this from first, maybe all of them. He said, “Guys, if you’re whipping this one out or your wife in any disagreement or negotiation, you’ve already lost.”
Did the wise pastor say the same to the wives–whenever they’re reminding their husbands that it’s his job to “make her feel loved”?
One of my favorite definitions of submission is “to yield.” Yielding is really smart like at an intersection or a four way stop. Good to yield when you enter a freeway too. Traffic becomes an absolute nightmare if everyone has decided to just forgo submission.
Very true!
And, ’round these parts, we have rules for which person goes first when two arrive to an intersection at the exact same time. (Because we can’t very well have two people “yielding” forever.) God gave women an advantage. They get to win the race for 2nd whenever this happens. Because God expects men to move first. 🙂
I never hear from Atheists
Who share what they believe.
But I’ll concede–when they show up–
It’s GREAT for comedy.
Ladies, if you’re not sure how to imitate God, try this: endorse slavery.
Men, if you’re not sure how to imitate God, try this: commit genocide.
Aspiring wanna-be internet preachers, if you’re not sure how to imitate John Branyan…
Use double spacing
It’ll give your every vapid utterance an air of faux-authority…
And make it seem like there’s deep, profound stuff going on here
Godless, hell-bound heathens…
If you wanna’ annoy JB…
Write parodies like this.
Why didn’t this rhyme?
The Bible is the Word of God
Denying this is libel
Oh, you want some proof to show?
Here you go: the Bible!
I aim to please.
Careful!
You’re mistreating our guest! There’s no reason to be so nasty!
Indeed. Anyone who didn’t read the last few blogs posts might not have the proper context…
My sincere apologies to any Atheists reading who DO know what they believe (and are willing to share). 🙂 Feel free to do so by hitting reply to this comment.
Last warning!
Drop the hateful tone.
I’m a random bag of chemicals;
Chimp evolved from cosmic slime.
Of course I tease and troll a bit!
There’s no “purpose” built in time…
I accept your apology.
In the future, be kind to people who disagree with you.
Sarah! Don’t put yourself down! You’re more than just chemicals; more than some old nasty chimp! Can chimps write poetry? Of course not.
Evolution? Hah! That’s fake news!
Come on, atheists! Where are you?
As Flanders once said in The Simpsons: “I’m dyin’ out here!”
All I hear is crickets, and a few stray tumbleweeds…
I think you’ve frightened them off. Power suits, and that stern, schoolteacher “I will brook no nonsense” tone is pretty intimidating. Replacing Sean Spicer with you, Sarah, was the smartest thing John ever did.
“My sincere apologies to any Atheists reading who DO know what they believe (and are willing to share). 🙂 Feel free to do so by hitting reply to this comment.”
Or feel free to hit reply three times and talk about whatever pops into your head, I guess…
I love the idea of competing to be 2nd.
❤️👏🏻
I’m grateful that St. Paul wrote out instructions to the husband, first – what he says takes all the sting out of his exhorting wives to be submissive. Reading the Bible in context is so important! When scripture is taken out of context, it can lead to poor theology, justification for sin and abuse
Submission and service within marriage is very good practice for the even more important submission to God, and development for the challenges of whatever ministry/vocation we’re each called to.
Thomas ÀKempis wrote a wonderful treatise on “The Imitation of Christ”. It’s a series of ice-in-your-face, ego-whomping, joyful, soul-transforming, life-long challenges, that bear fruit by the Grace of God.
❤️🙏🏻
P.S. Wish I could see you and Tim during your Fall tour! While you’ll be only a couple of hours drive time away, at one of your venues, I can’t get to your show due to injuries. Hopefully you’ll circle around closer, next year. Thank you for all the laughter, encouragement and staying close to God. You have a fantastic ministry!
But Iiiiiiii’m doing all the saaaaaaacrificing, and heeeeee’s not doing aaaaaaany!
(*pouts)