Love and Submission Again

Love and submission are inseparably entwined.

It is obvious that husband and wives should love each other. This means that they will also submit to each other.

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ (Eph 5:21).

So why does Paul say that wives should submit to their husbands (Eph 5:22) and that wives should submit to their husbands ((Eph 5:25)?

I believe that this presentation reflects their weaknesses, not their strengths.

Many men tend to be so task-focussed that they can easily become so absorbed in their calling that they begin to sacrifice their wives and families to the cause. They need to being reminded to love their wives. They often get puffed up about their wisdom, so they think they know what is best for their wives. The solution is love. Because they are strong, the natural sin of men is to slip into domination. In the worst case this becomes violence. The antidote is love.

Women usually understand much better how relationships work, so they can slip into manipulating a relationship to get what they want. The antidote for manipulation is submission. Women love their children, so they can be inclined to put their needs before God’s work. If they love God and their husbands, they will sometimes need to submit to what God is doing, even if it has a cost for their family.

So husbands and wives should love each other, and that means that one or other will frequently need to submit to the will of the other.