22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord…25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. –Ephesians 5:22, 25-27
This is the controversial one, but I’m convinced it shouldn’t be. God has made men and women differently. We complement one another. We are fully equal and yet God has given us distinct roles as we relate to one another. We can fight against that or we can live out these roles in the strength of God’s power. Wives are called to submit to even their ungodly husbands (see 1 Peter) as a way to model the gospel. And husbands are called to submit even to ungrateful wives as a way to model the gospel. Your partners response to your fulfillment of your role does not change your responsibility. Let us work together to accurately model the gospel in the way we relate to one another.
Father, we thank you for the roles that you have given us. There are things that are difficult about each role but we know that you give us your power to fulfill our responsibilities. We also know that the gospel is at stake in the way we love our spouse. Help us husbands to sacrifice for our wives the way Jesus did for His bride. And help us wives lovingly follow our husbands leadership the way the church does Christ. We know that we will never perfectly model this, but help even our broken mirrors accurately reflect Jesus. Amen.
