Ephesians 5:22-33
22Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
Wives are to submit to their husbands as well as to the Lord.
Husband-Wife relationships mirror Christ-Church relationships.
Christ is the head of the church, the church is the body. The husband is the head of the family, and the wife is the body. The church submits to Christ and wives submit to their husbands.
25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
Just because wives are called to submit to their husbands doesn't mean that husbands can be abusive. Husbands are told to love their wives as Christ loved the church. And Christ gave himself up for the church to make the church holy and blameless. Husbands should be willing to give themselves up for their wives. It's all kind of circular.
28In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— 30for we are members of his body,
This amuses me. It makes me think of the "body builder guys" who are obsessed with themselves. Husbands should love their wives like they love their own bodies. Because if a man loves his wife, he loves himself. No one seriously hates their body. I mean, people want to improve their bodies, but you don't improve your body by starving it and not taking care of yourself. You have to feed it the right stuff. You have to take care of yourself. Christ fed and took care of the church. Husbands should take care of their wives. Because we're all one big happy...body?
31"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."
One. There aren't separate people any more. They're one. Which is such a strange and unusual idea in today's culture.
32This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
He's talking about Christ and the church. But he's also talking about husbands and wives. And this "profound mystery." It's interesting.
I think I'm going to finish The Irresistible Revolution. Then I'm going to try to finish a post that I've been working on for liveGrounded. We'll see how this goes. My family should be home soon which will be nice. :)
Hope you have a fantastic day!
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