Welcome to My Poetry Site
22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.
Ephesians 5:22
I went to the cinema a little while back and saw a film called The Vow. I won’t talk much about what it was about. But what I will say was that it was about a husband and wife and from the beginning of the film to the end (it was not too far away from 2 hours long), this man, without ceasing, poured out unconditional love towards his wife.
Everything he did was for her best interest. She had family who were doing things for ‘her best interest’ but it was within the context of ‘their best interests’, if you know what I mean...
But her husband did things for her best interests within the context of... her best interests.
He made a particularly hard decision during the film, which would be of little benefit to him but would be to her best interest.
He was not a door mat. He was not a controller. He simply loved his wife.
What does the scripture ‘wives, submit to your husbands’ evoke within you?
It could maybe stir up many things, but I think one of the main things it stirs up is a wanting not to submit.
Why might a wife not want to submit?
A wife might not submit because she may not think that it is in her best interests to submit - there maybe a concern that her husband may not have her best interests at heart.
Why does God say to submit?
Let me put in a context here with another question.
If a husband poured out unconditional love for his wife and did all things towards her that he truly believed were to her best interests whether it was to his benefit or not – why would he ever ask or tell her to do anything that would not be to her benefit? Or – Why would he ask or tell her to do anything that would only be to his benefit?
If you knew that the person you were submitted to had your interests truly in their heart, do you think it would be easy or hard to submit to them?
I would venture to say that you would be compelled to submit to them.
Here’s some more of what that scripture says:
21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.
23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Saviour.
24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her
Christ has our best interests at heart. It compels us to submit to Him as we learn of His unconditional love for us. He had our interests so much at heart that he gave himself for us (literally).
So there’s the context. Let our marriages be a living picture of our relationship with Christ.
‘Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ’
We are to submit to Christ, but I would say laying your life down is submitting to us. He is God. He submitted to us because it was in ours and His best interest to do so.
But what if you know someone whose husband is not doing his part of the picture? What if he is habitually doing things for his own interest?
Pray that that wife continues to submit to Christ. Pray that Christ’s love flows out of her to her husband. Love is victorious. No enemy can defeat it.
Pray for him. Pray that he deepens his submission to Christ so that Christ’s sacrifice flows out of him to her. Sacrifice is submission and compels submission but never demands it.
May Christ’s love shine on and in and out of all of us.
Steve Harewood
Comment On This Poem --- Vote for this poem
THE VOW
THE VOW