Devotion 1: Respect

Pastor Mitchell Holmes 

"Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands." Ephesians 5:22 

When I was a child, I remember playing games with my sisters. Our games would regularly be that of playing some kind of store. Whether we were selling potions we had made from mud and grass, or making our own fast food chain, we liked to play store. One thing that I was regularly obsessed with when we would play these games was who was in charge. In my mind, It was hard for me to have fun if I had to work for my baby sisters. Being in charge meant that I answered to no-one and what I said, WENT. Both of which were incredibly important to me. Not being in charge, to me, was worse than not playing at all. 

Our passage for today addresses this subject within the infrastructure of marriage. Ephesians 5:22-24 reads, “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit everything to their husbands.” Now at first glance, it can be easy to read this passage as telling husbands that they’re in charge and wives are somehow inferior, but that is not what is being taught in this passage.  

The concept of submission is not at all about inferiority, rather it’s about God’s design for marriage being one of equal, yet different and distinct roles for a husband and a wife. Just as the Church submits to Christ for spiritual direction and care, a wife’s respect for her husband is an act of trust in God’s design. Paul writes in Verse 22 and says, “as to the Lord.” This tells us that honoring one’s husband is a reflection of the honor you have for the Lord. A wife’s willingness to submit to her husband is indicative of her faith in God’s design and a desire to be led in the same way that the church is led by Christ. 

Verse 23 shows us that the husband’s role is “the head” and he should be a reflection of Christ as the leader of the church. This means that it is a husband’s job to represent the style of sacrificial, servant-leadership that is so present in Christ’s character. It is not his role to be domineering or controlling. Ultimately, it is his responsibility to take into account the voice of his wife and hear her thoughts and opinions on difficult decisions before prayerfully making a decision for the home.  

When a home is run by a man who lives to represent Christ in his leadership and a wife that respectfully trusts him, it creates an atmosphere where love and unity can flourish and allows the team that your marriage is, to be as successful as possible. 

Foundational Family Blueprint Activity  

Memory Verse 

Memorize the following verse, “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.” Romans 12:10