Do you know that God designed marriage to work according to the way
he created the man and the woman in the garden of Eden? Each of them has
its own marital duties that when practiced appropriately make the
marriage successful. The bible makes it clear by commanding husband and
wife to fulfill their marital duties to each other. (1 Corinthians 7:3)
What are these martial duties that scripture is talking about?
1. Wife Should Submit To Her Husband.(Ephesians 5:22)
It is a wife's duty to submit to her husband. God created a hierarchy
in marriage according to how he created men and women. Jesus Christ is
head over the husband and husbands are head over the wife in just the
same way that Christ is head over the church, his body, of which he is
the Savior". (Ephesians 5:23) This does not mean that man is superior to
the woman.
In God's eyes men and women are equal heirs of His
kingdom, and that's all that matters! In society there is a push and
shove mentality that the different sexes exhibit with each other from
time to time, but it doesn't mean a thing! You can't take this life to
heaven with you. Why work so hard proving something that you cannot take
to heaven with you? In fact, you will not see heaven if you are so
burdened in this life with things of the flesh. "For where your treasure
is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:19-21)
God chose
to make Eve out of Adams flesh and bones, which illustrates that in
marriage man and woman symbolically become "one flesh". The goal in
marriage should always be of "oneness" between husband and wife. Do you
see "oneness" in marriage today? The wife is doing her own thing and the
husband is doing his own thing. They each have their own jobs, their
own money, their own friends, etc. Are we honoring God with our
marriage, or satan? Where is the oneness? Why are we not procuring for
ourselves spiritual treasures that we can take to heaven with us?
When
a Christian wife rebels against her duty of marriage she is rebelling
against God and His plan for her in the marriage, consequently the
marriage will have difficulties, much like what we are seeing today.
Reality is, if the husband does not fulfill his marital duty to his wife
properly she will have a difficult time submitting to her husband. In
fact this is where the attitude of feeling like a doormat has been
brought into Christian culture.
Wrong attitudes grow like yeast
does in bread dough. I would venture to say that ninety percent of the
Christian culture has been deceived and they don't even know it. Women
have been deceived into believing that being a wife and mother is not
good enough and that she must go to college and have a good career and
boss her husband around. After all, most women have been told they are
equal to or above men and will not be treated like a doormat. Many of
them have the "no man will tell me what to do" attitude!
More and
more men are being emasculated by their wives. Consequently men are
looking outside of America for suitable marriage spouses so they may
find a good woman who will treat him like a man. I know of many such
marriages and the wives are treated with love and almost anything their
heart desires. Many American women are really missing out on the
blessings that come with a healthy Godly marriage.
If one link in
the marriage is weak, ultimately the marriage will have no leg to stand
on. Why is it so important that wives honor and submit to their husbands
in everything? It is because her husband, being the man that God
created him to be has a built in natural instinct to be a protector,
provider, and leader. All men have this ability, even those men who
believe they were born without it. When a woman usurps her husband's
headship she will be in constant suffering in her marriage because she
is trying to row her boat against the nature of the current.
A man
needs to be treated like a man for him to be able to properly carry out
his God-given calling. It is wrong for any woman to try and undermine
the natural instincts of her husband because of a messed up attitude
that has evolved from a confused culture-it is not natural for a woman
to behave like a man and it is not natural for a man to behave like a
woman--it doesn't matter what century we are living in!
"Husbands,
love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up
for her". (Ephesians 5:25) Husbands are commanded to love their wives-in
the same way Christ loved and gave himself up for us. This is why it is
so important to understand what real love is. Love is not s superficial
feeling of lust and desires like so many think, but principled acts and
behaviors that must be acted upon and sometimes sacrificed for.
A
husband cannot love his wife properly if he does not put Jesus Christ
above himself and utilize the power of the Holy Spirit within him. Now
there is a wonderful treasure to store up for yourself in this life.
When a husband loves his wife in the ways of the Lord, he is giving up
his own life for that of his wife, to make sure her needs are met and
taken care of, above his own. A husband must pray about this daily and
ask Christ to help him love his wife because there will be days when he
may not feel like being very loving.
A man who learns to love his
wife in the ways of God will be blessed with much marital happiness. The
results will be a wife who respects, honors and loves her husband.
Let's stop all the fussing and fighting and lets start honoring God with
our marriage. What one thing can you do today to help bring your
marriage back to God? What spiritual treasures can you store up for
yourselves in marriage?
Do you feel intimidated to submit to your
husband's? Are you loving your wife in the Lord? If you want a
gloriously blessed marriage, husbands must take back their God-given
headship position and start honoring God with their marriage! This is
what will fix Christian culture! Do you think you can make headship and
submission work in your marriage? I do.
