Yes, Dear!

In the beginning was Eve who gave some forbidden fruit to her husband, who was with her, and he ate (Genesis 3:6). To be fair, Eve simply handed over the fruit; she didn't insist that Adam eat it. Adam decided to eat it and mankind fell. With the fall of our first parents came all sorts of marital problems.

Look at Abram and Sara. When Sara was not able to conceive, she took her maidservant and gave her to Abram to be his wife. (Yikes! No modern woman would do that!) But that was the custom of their time. Sara said “Go.” And Abram agreed. But God did not call us to follow our culture. We are called to follow Him. Abram and Sara should have trusted God’s timing and provision but they did not. Hagar and Ishmael later gave their family some serious problems.

Look at Isaac and Rebecca. Isaac loved Esau and Rebecca loved Jacob. Instead of loving both sons equally and fairly, they played favorites. They became a divided family.

Look at Jacob and Rachel. When she could not give birth, she developed a foul temper. She demanded from her husband, “Give me children, or I’ll die!” Did Jacob comfort her? No! He instead sought solace in his other 3 wives. (Yup, read their story again. Jacob had 4 wives: Leah, and her maid Zilpah, Rachel and her maid, Bilhah.) No wonder their children could not get along.

Though these men (and women) did great things for God, their marriages were far from perfect. Why? Simply because they did not submit to one another. In doing so, they disobeyed God in their marriages.

The word submit is surely one of the most difficult and disliked words in the Bible, especially by modern women. Perhaps because submission means to be under someone else’s power, and surely, nobody want their rights and identity trampled upon. But Paul says in Ephesians, "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ." (Ephesians 5:21) It is something Paul thinks every Christian can and should do – both men and women.

The key words are, “out of reverence for Christ.” When you submit to your husband, you are submitting to Christ. When you love your wife, you are submitting to Christ. Submission doesn't mean you go along with everything your partner orders. Submission means trusting your husband to make the right decision for the good of the marriage and for the family. Submission and loving means that the husband will put his wife’s and his children’s interests first when he makes decisions, as he leads the family, God’s way. Submission is not following blindly when you're being asked to do something that violates Scripture, your conscience, or common sense. Submission is simply taking into consideration your partner’s well-being and happiness, thinking of your partner instead of yourself. We cannot do this loving on our own – because we are fallen beings, we are naturally selfish. That is why we have Christ as our model and the Holy Spirit as our strength. Wrap your marriage in prayer, with God’s Word as its anchor. Surely, you will experience marriage made in heaven.