Scripture to Read: Colossians 3:18
God had Paul write about cultivating healthy relationships. We read in Colossians 3:18, “Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.” For those who do not know Christ, this sounds like a demeaning Scripture, but God knows how he has created us as men and women. God had Paul lay out this same command to wives in Ephesians 5:22–24, but God had Paul provide a more detailed explanation. “22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.” God tells wives that they must submit to their husbands in the same way they submit to Christ Himself. God also compares the wives to the church of Christ, and He compares the husband to Christ in terms of his role in leading and loving his wife. The wife is the representative of the “body of Christ” in the husband-wife relationship and the husband is to represent Christ. Just as the church, every born-again follower of Christ willingly obeys Christ, so every wife is to follow her husband’s leadership in their marriage relationship. This is why a man and a woman, before they ever marry, must have a strong relationship with Christ Himself. Without Christ, the marriage relationship will struggle, for only through Christ can we fulfill what God has commanded.
Challenge & Application
Who are the husband and wife to represent in their covenant relationship of marriage?
Why is having a strong relationship with Christ critical to having a healthy marriage?
Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!