“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.” Ephesians 5:22

Ladies, we are stepping into some tricky territory today: submission. Sounds pretty condescending, huh? Maybe even a little anti-feminist. But the truth is, we have been commanded by the Bible, the living breathing word of our Almighty Father. It can’t just be glossed over

One thing we must consider is the Biblical context. At the time Paul was writing these words to the Ephesians, this text was controversial for alternate reasons. Women were not to be considered equal to men as much as these verses suggest. You can almost imagine the shock his audience had when it challenged their cultural identity.

In today’s society, the opposite is true. We assume submission implies we are “less than.” But the Bible does not insinuate that at all. In fact, it has similar instructions for our counterparts that are given in verse 25. “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” It isn’t a one-sided command and if you drop your preconceived notions, you actually can see a beautiful picture of selflessness. We are called to submit to each other through love and the desire to become more like Christ. It’s not about becoming a doormat but developing a servant’s heart — a mutual submission.

It is a challenge but when we follow His example of a biblical marriage, we bless our families.