21 Be willing to serve each other out of respect for Christ. 22 Wives,
be willing to serve your husbands the same as the Lord. 23 A
husband is the head of his wife, just as Christ is the head of the church.
Christ is the Savior of the church, which is his body. 24 The
church serves under Christ, so it is the same with you wives. You should be
willing to serve your husband’s in everything.25 Husbands, love
your wives the same as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it. 26 He
died to make the church holy. He used the telling of the Good News to make the
church clean by washing it with water.
27 Christ died so that he could give the church to himself like
a bride in all her beauty. He died so that the church could be holy and without
fault, with no evil or sin or any other thing wrong in it. 28 And
husbands should love their wives like that. They should love their wives as
they love their own bodies. The man who loves his wife loves himself, 29 because
no one ever hates his own body, but feeds and takes care of it. And that is
what Christ does for the church. (Ephesians 5:21-29, ERV)
Over the years, I truly
believe these verses have been interpreted incorrectly in regard to the roles
of a husband and wife in a Christian marriage. Hopefully, I can clarify things
for you. There is always room for improvement in any marriage. When
interpreting some parts of this scripture passage, it will be better understood
with the work analogy of a supervisor and his employees (in his charge). The
supervisor is the husband, the employee is the wife, and the organization is
marriage.
In reference to our work analogy, verses 21-24 teach that both the supervisor and the employee must work together for the good of the organization. Without the employee, the supervisor cannot meet his organizational goals. Without the supervisor, the employee has no real reason (or direction) for the work they do. Ultimately, the supervisor makes the final choices for his organization.
When the supervisor does not have enough
information to make the right decisions for his organization, this is when the
employees must step up and provide the supervisor with the correct information
so he can make an accurate decision. Delegation is an important part of a supervisor trusting an employee with something they do not excel at. In our home my wife does the bills because she is better at it than I am. (The wife must serve her husband in the
same manner she does God with all the uniqueness she has inside her as God’s
child.)
Verses 25-29 put a great
responsibility on the role of the husband. He must cherish his wife as he does
his own body, and as Christ loves the church. Adjectives that describe Christ’s
love for the church include words like sacrificial, respectful, and
affectionate. These three traits give men a lot to strive for in our marriages.
With God’s help (and counseling if needed) your marriage can be all that it
needs to be (and that you want it to become). I believe with information above,
your marriage can be happier and more vibrant.
This topic was suggested by friend and blog member, Christa Andreotti.
No comments:
Post a Comment