Devotion 5: A Challenge to Wives

Jasmyn Bicknell 

"Wives, submit to your 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 5:22-24 

In marriage, we are to be the mirror image of the relationship Christ has with the church. Wives represent the church, while husbands represent Christ. This may confuse you, and you may not know where to start, so let's break it down. 

A marriage should be based on a few key principles. First, obviously, being that the Lord is our foundation, and from there comes love, submission, trust, respect, and devotion for each other. Wives should have a deep admiration and affection, trusting their leadership, never doubting your spouse, and always seeking to better themselves as well as each other. These qualities do not come naturally, and because of our selfish human nature, we have to constantly fight our flesh and rely on the Lord to give us everything we need to be a good spouse. 

The big challenge that Paul gives to wives here, and probably one of the biggest struggles we have in marriage, is simple to understand but difficult to execute. He is instructing wives to submit… to everything. If you're like me, you can be stubborn at times and want to be in control, but the reality is that you should trust that your husband is going to lead your family towards Christ. Sometimes, this means you are going to have absolutely no idea where you're going until you get there. That can be scary, but we are not meant to know everything, that is the Lord's job. 

Foundational Family Blueprint Activity  

Challenge 

Wives, for the upcoming week, I challenge you to seek out ways to submit to your husband. Try to think of specific times or ways that you struggle with this and say a prayer every morning asking the Lord to help you fight against your flesh. It won't always be the easiest, especially on the days that you're feeling overwhelmed and short-tempered, but that is when you call on the name of the Lord and ask for His help. This is a command in the Bible, and though we may not want to follow it at times, we must do it. We must be careful not to simply pick and choose only the Scriptures we think are easy to follow, we must consider the Bible as a whole. 

Husbands, this is an opportunity for you to come alongside your wife, encourage her, and pray together. So, as we close today, think of two ways that your wife has been successful in submitting to you this week and share those with her. Wives, take notes, and use these examples to help you in the coming weeks.