Wives and Husbands

Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Ephesians 5:22-24

One of the things that non-Christians (or at least, non-Bible-believing Christians) have a hard time understanding is the roles of husbands and wives.

Once I was asked if I really believed that a wife should submit to her husband.

It's as if one can accept that I believe in creation, or that I believe in the resurrection, or that I believe in tithing, but it is unfathomable that I could believe that my husband is the head of our home and that I should submit to his authority.

I don't really see what the big deal is. My husband is not a louse. If he was a drunkard, or an adulterer, or abusive, then I would understand their shock and disbelief, but everyone knows that my husband is a nice guy, so why is this so hard to accept?

Then on Sunday, I had one of those "a-ha" moments.

We were in the car leaving church and Bob asked me how my knee was doing. I thought it rather odd since my knee hadn't bothered me in days, so I said, "It hurts; how did you know that?"

That day, we were late for church so, we had to split up. I, along with Little E and the D, sat in front of Bob and Big E.

When we stood up to pray at the end of the service, he noticed that I was favoring my good leg.

To understand how amazing that was, I have to tell you that my husband is not very observant. I do not mean that as an insult, it is just not one of his strengths.

Despite that, he cares enough about me to take notice of how I am doing.

This is why it is so hard for people who are not trying to live a Biblical life to understand how I can give up my autonomy and submit to my husband (or why I would want to).

See, not only are wives commanded to submit to their husbands, but husbands are to love thier wives "just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her." *

Christ died for his church!

Wives may be called to submit to their husbands, but the husbands have a pretty heavy responsibility, too, here.

Neither my husband nor I am perfect in living up to our Biblical roles in our marriage, but we strive for the selflessness that really sets apart Christian living from worldly living.

I don't say that in a boastful way, or a way to put others down, just as an explanation for why it is so hard for others to understand how a woman can submit to her husband, and why it is not oppressive or otherwise hurtful to her.

A good Christian husband does not take his position of authority and exploit it to his wife's detriment. Instead, he cherishes her. He cares for her. He notices when she favors one leg as she stands because the knee on the other leg hurts.