Chapter Breakdown
1. Living in the Light
2. Living by the Spirit's Power
3. Spirit-guided Relationships: Wives & Husbands
What God Wants To Show Me Today
I wanted to wait until Jenilee posted so I could see what she focused on. Since she focused on the first half I am going to focus on the last portion (vs. 21-33).
This is one of my favorite portions of scripture in regards to marriage. I think it shows us exactly what a godly marriage is and should be.
So many times I hear Christians get this idea of a marriage wrong. They swing the pendulum to far one way or another. The husband demands complete submission to a point of being abusive or the woman demands her way demeaning the God given authority of the husband's role. God paints a beautiful picture of what He truly wants a marriage to be and represents.
The marriage is meant to represent Christ and His relationship to the church.
So as the church submits to Christ authority and loves Him; wives have the honor or representing this to the world. Personally, I have no problem following my hubby; because I know that he is always trying to follow Christ. If he is following Christ, I know we are in the will of God; simply because that is how God has designed marriage to work.
The husband's role is to represent Christ. To be honest, I am thankful I do not have this responsibility. It is a high honor; but remember to whom much is given much is required. It says in verse 25.... Husbands love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her. Wow, my husband should love me so much that he would give his very life for me and love me as much as he loves himself. Can you imagine what marriages would be like if men would step up and be this?????
God wants us to be in unity within our marriage; just like He wants to be in unity with us. Marriage is really comes down to love and respect. I love verse 33...
Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
God nails it on the head. So many marriages are broken because the husbands have not loved their wives and wives have not respected their husbands.
If you are struggling today in your marriage...God wants to do something amazing. He wants to bring healing and he wants to restore your marriage. I encourage you today to talk to your pastor or get some good Christian counseling. Please, don't wait; don't think it is too late! He is a miracle working God; what seems impossible ....He can make possible!
We go to the doctor when we are sick to get better. Get help so that your marriage will get better. Sometimes, we just don't know how to change the way things are and we don't have the tools; a pastor or counselor can really help us see things we have not seen before. A godly marriage just doesn't happen all by itself. Marriage requires work and the power of the Holy Spirit moving in our lives. God wants our relationships to be whole and full of life. He wants our marriages to succeed; because it represents our relationship with Him.
So let's work hard and....
Beautifully said - thanks for being true to God's word as you shared what a marriage should be. After our weekend getaway last weekend I am even more burdened to be the wife God desires of me and to keep our marriage rooted and grounded in Him. I will share more soon, because we learned so much from our retreat about a godly marriage.
ReplyDeleteNext year I am going to do series of guest posts on Marriage every Sunday. Would you be willing to use this on my blog for that series? Excellent post.
ReplyDeleteThe blog I'll be doing the series on is Family Fountain.
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