Ephesians 5:22-33
New Living Translation (NLT)
22 For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church.24 As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything.
25 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her 26 to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. 27 He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. 28 In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself.
I read these verses the other day for about the 100th time and God just hit me hard with a new revelation. I am not married but I definitely plan on it in the future, however I am so excited He showed me this now and not after struggling for five years in a marriage. The first thing that I was struck by was why in the world did God give the wife such a hard task and the husband such an easy task! I mean come on, submitting to someone is so much harder than loving someone that you have chosen to spend the rest of your life with. However very quickly God reminded me on how very different men and women are. I think its easy to love but submitting is a difficult area and that is exactly why it is written this way to men and women, because its not just me its many like this. God knew exactly who needed to hear what!
The next thing that He taught me in these verses was that when He is talking of how the women should submit, it compares it to submitting to Him. And I thought to myself; its not hard to submit God that is what I want to do with all my heart. So why would it be hard to submit to my husband? And then He hit me again, I know God loves me so so so much there is no doubt in my mind! That is why I want to submit to Him with my whole heart. However from these verses it is implying that it is hard for husbands to show love (not putting them down in anyway it is just not as wired in them as it is in women) and thats when the curtains opened. In my personal opinion submitting becomes harder when the husband is not showing love. So if love is hard for the man it makes sense why submitting is hard for the woman, if we submit because of love. I am not saying that it is the husbands fault but it did open my eyes to see why it could be so hard for each person to follow the command if one is not.
The final thing that really got me was that God compares loving the wife, to loving one's own body. That just kind of made me chuckle because most men I know don't really have an issue with loving their bodies (which is a wonderful gift). I love how God gives each side a very relevant comparison. If He would of said wives love your husbands like you love your own body we would be in a world of trouble since that is women's biggest struggle body image!
I love how God can show you new things even if you have read the verses many many times before. I also am so glad to know that God has designed marriage to be one of the greatest covenants and I can't wait to enter into one day.
25 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her 26 to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. 27 He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. 28 In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself.
I read these verses the other day for about the 100th time and God just hit me hard with a new revelation. I am not married but I definitely plan on it in the future, however I am so excited He showed me this now and not after struggling for five years in a marriage. The first thing that I was struck by was why in the world did God give the wife such a hard task and the husband such an easy task! I mean come on, submitting to someone is so much harder than loving someone that you have chosen to spend the rest of your life with. However very quickly God reminded me on how very different men and women are. I think its easy to love but submitting is a difficult area and that is exactly why it is written this way to men and women, because its not just me its many like this. God knew exactly who needed to hear what!
The next thing that He taught me in these verses was that when He is talking of how the women should submit, it compares it to submitting to Him. And I thought to myself; its not hard to submit God that is what I want to do with all my heart. So why would it be hard to submit to my husband? And then He hit me again, I know God loves me so so so much there is no doubt in my mind! That is why I want to submit to Him with my whole heart. However from these verses it is implying that it is hard for husbands to show love (not putting them down in anyway it is just not as wired in them as it is in women) and thats when the curtains opened. In my personal opinion submitting becomes harder when the husband is not showing love. So if love is hard for the man it makes sense why submitting is hard for the woman, if we submit because of love. I am not saying that it is the husbands fault but it did open my eyes to see why it could be so hard for each person to follow the command if one is not.
The final thing that really got me was that God compares loving the wife, to loving one's own body. That just kind of made me chuckle because most men I know don't really have an issue with loving their bodies (which is a wonderful gift). I love how God gives each side a very relevant comparison. If He would of said wives love your husbands like you love your own body we would be in a world of trouble since that is women's biggest struggle body image!
I love how God can show you new things even if you have read the verses many many times before. I also am so glad to know that God has designed marriage to be one of the greatest covenants and I can't wait to enter into one day.
2 comments:
Awesome and so very true, God knows exactly what is best. I love it when He makes His word living and active then it is always new!!!
Post a Comment