Marriage!

For Wednesday, April 24, 2024:

Colossians 3:18-19 NLT: “18: Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting for those who belong to the Lord. 19: Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly.”

In my experience, these two verses take the #1 spot for creating angst in the reader. Usually the problem is lifting one verse out of context without considering the other. But just like a marriage requires two people, these two verses describing a Christian marriage are designed to fit together.

Let’s get one thing straight: Submission doesn’t imply slavery. Submission means you are part of a group, part of a team. Both husband and wife have agreed to play on the family team. So if the family is a team, the husband is the “designated leader” of the team, but only because the wife grants him that position. The wife has her place alongside the “leader,” and the children have their place in relation to the leader and the wife.

The wife enjoys being on the team because she is loved by her husband who treats her well, who respects her. The Christian husband puts his wife up on a pedestal, and seeing her there brings him joy! The two love one another “as is fitting in the Lord.”

God invented this partnership, so we know that it works!

Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship