Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Family”
Our Bible verse for today: “Wives, submit to your own husband as to the Lord … Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church …” Ephesians 5:22;25 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Strong families begin with strong marriages.”
As our month of devotional thinking about families draws to a close, we cannot end without giving some consideration to the two most important family relationships there are, that of husbands and wives, and parents and children. Today we’ll consider the marriage relationship and tomorrow we will conclude with some thoughts about parents and children.
The foundation of a strong marriage is based upon a concept I refer to as “mutual submission”. It’s taught by the Apostle Paul in Galatians 5:21-33 and it’s the key to a happy and successful marriage.
In that passage the Apostle teaches that we have to begin our thinking about a strong marriage relationship from the understanding of mutual submission – a man and a woman in submission to one another. Within the structure of the marriage each one has a different role to play, and each of them is equally important- just as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are co-equal within the structure of the Trinity, they just have different roles.
The interesting thing about Paul’s teaching in this passage is how much of the burden of responsibility and sacrifice falls on the husband. While the wife is required by God to submit to her husband’s godly leadership, the husband is required to serve his wife sacrificially, just as Jesus serves the church sacrificially. Jesus leads the church, but He also loves the church with all His heart, serves the church sacrificially, and even gave His life for the church.
If a husband has that attitude about his wife – that she is the most important person in his life and that his goal is to serve her lovingly and sacrificially, then his leadership of the family with be godly, kind, loving, and compassionate. Not many women will have a problem with that!
There’s much more that needs to be said on this subject than we have room for here this morning in this devotional message. For an expanded teaching on this passage and what it teaches us about building a strong marriage, see chapter eleven of my book “Walking with Paul”. If you don’t have a copy of it you can get one at www.JimMersereauBooks.com. Or, also on that website, you can download a free copy of the article “A Biblical Model for Marriage”.
A truly healthy marriage – a Biblical marriage – is based upon the concept of mutual submission.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 