“Wives, submit to your husbands (Ephesians 5:22)”.

I’ve been saddened by how that phrase has now become derogatory. We live in a culture saying that is offensive but I find it beautiful. You see, we tend to stop the passage there. 3 verses later “Husbands, love your wives”. Continue on to verses 28 through 29, “In the same way, husbands should lover their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh but nourishes and cherishes is, just as Christ does the church”.

Wives submitting to their husbands is not about doing every command your husband barks at you as we are groomed to believe. It’s not about bowing down to his every need. If a man loves his wife as Christ, then he is willing to die for her. He is putting her life above his. A man who loves his wife more than his body will not cause harm to his wife. When you have a love like that then how can you not surrender to your husband?

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife and the two shall become on flesh (Ephesians 5:31)”. A man shall hold fast to his wife. He shall be firmly secured to his wife. He shall stay strong, do what is right, believe in and stay true to his wife. There is no love story more beautiful other than the love of Christ!  How can we find that offensive? Yet we have no problem with the world telling us that a true love story is about a woman submitting and signing a contract to satisfy a man’s sexual desires. Funny how the devil skews our thinking.

 “However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband (Ephesians 5:33)”.

Marriage is about putting your spouse above yourself just as Christ did for the world. We have got to take the sanctity of marriage back! Marriage is a beautiful bond. It does not mean it will always be easy but it is okay to have a happy, healthy marriage. We live in a day where it almost seems wrong to admit you are in a strong marriage. Church, it is time for the world to see a marriage routed in Christ is powerful and beautiful.