Summer 2009

When looking for an example of a submissive wife as described in   Ephesians 5:22-25, we need only to look to the worthy woman of Proverbs 31. She is a woman who inspires  confidence in the heart of her       husband because he trusts in her. The husband of such a woman can go about his daily responsibilities having full confidence in her while he is away. She takes care of the home and the needs of the family in his  absence. She will not be one to ruin his good name or destroy the family financially while he is gone. This is a woman who stands by her man; she builds him up, and is proud in doing so.

“She rises also while it is still night and gives food to her household” (v. 15). Notice she is an early riser, busying herself with her domestic responsibilities and fulfilling her daily obligations. She provides food and nourishment for her family because she has their best interests at heart. It goes on to say that “she girds   herself with strength and makes her arms strong.” Due to all of the work she does, she is not a weak woman. She is strong and dependable.

“The teaching of kindness is on her tongue” (v. 26). When she speaks, she is kind and speaks words of    wisdom. She does not slander and is not a busy body. She controls her tongue. “She looks well to the ways of her household, her children rise up and bless her; her husband also, and he praises her, saying: Many    daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all.”

The worthy woman is praised and appreciated by her husband and children. Men may acknowledge a worthy woman but the upright man appreciates and treats his own worthy wife as the very best. Charm is
deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Nothing is more beautiful on a woman than inner beauty. She loves the Lord and considers the needs of others greater than her own (Philippians 2:3-4).

How many of us fit this description of a submissive wife? Some may laugh or scoff at the idea of being under submission in today’s society. Many have said that being a submissive wife means giving up the rights of a woman, or that being in submission turns back the hands of time on the progress that women have made. Some feel as though they would be regarded as inferior, second rate, or even worse if they submit to their husbands.

But let us open our Bibles to see   exactly what the Bible teaches on this topic.

In Ephesians, Paul instructs, “Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.” This verse teaches that we should be in submission to our own husbands. Not to all husbands, but just to our own. “For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.” This verse may offend society, but Christian women pattern themselves after Christ’s teachings and not worldly ideas. “But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.” Christianity means total submission to Christ. A Christian woman wouldn’t resent her husband’s God-given authority any more than the faithful Church would take exception to Christ’s authority. “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her…” Husbands are commanded to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it. Husbands are not to have the attitude of “what can I make her do for me” but “what can I do for her and how can we together serve God.” God is head of all. If husbands are not doing the will of God, then the wife must do as God commands.  Ultimately, we are all under God’s authority.

Husbands and wives, in obedience to God, should have an attitude of Ephesians 5:21…”and be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.” God’s plan is a perfect plan. Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart. (Psalm 119:2).

By Karen Bookout

Originally printed in the Summer 2009 issue

(Part 2 of a Series. Click here for Part 1.)

The first time we read about a woman in the Bible, she is given the role of a wife – her husband’s helper. She was created for him. In Genesis 2:18, the Lord God said “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” God designed the plan for a wife’s submission even before sin entered the world in Genesis 3. God’s plan was perfect from the beginning by first creating man. Then He made woman out of Adam’s side so the two would be equal in God’s sight. He created Adam and Eve for each other.

Ephesians 5:22-23 tells us “Wives be subject to your own husband as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church.” The wife must act under the authority of her husband as the church acts under the authority of Christ.

Paul discusses some differences between men and women in I Corinthians 11. Man was created first, but woman committed the first sin. When Eve stepped out of her place and took the leadership roll with the serpent, she violated God’s design. Also, when Adam stepped out of his place and took the follower’s position, he was not acting as the leader God designed him to be.

Here again we must remember that God created man, then from man He created woman. On a spiritual level woman is equal to man, but the man is the spiritual head and leader of the family. We must remember 1 Corinthians 11:1-3. “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ. But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is head of woman, and God is head of the church.”

Men and women are dependent upon each other in Christ (1 Corinthians 11:11-12). Neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord. For as woman came from man, even so man also comes through woman; but all things are from God. Since the woman was taken from the man, she is of him, yet man comes into the world through the woman. Man had the priority in time and position, yet no man can be born without woman. They mutually depend upon each other.

The following passages show how much concern and care God has for women.

An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who shames him is as rottenness in his bones (Proverbs 12:4).

Houses and riches are an inheritance from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the Lord (Proverbs 19:14).

A woman’s position as a wife as described in God’s word cannot be misunderstood. Her role was ordained by God and goes back to Genesis 3:16 where we read of the fall of Adam and Eve.

Both man and woman are of God. They live, move, and have their being in Him. The woman should be content in her role, and the man should not feel superior since the arrangement is God’s design.

God honored women from the very beginning when He created Eve for Adam and established the first divine institution of marriage. The influence of the world can be strong in our marriages, but we should remember that our first responsibility is to obey God and not men (Acts 5:29). A Christian husband and wife can know that eternity with God is possible if they endure the worldly influences that they face in the present.

Verse for Meditation and Study: I Peter 3:1-7

By Mary Stonebarger

originally printed in the summer 2009 issue