Undeserved Love.

Col 3:18  Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. 

Col 3:19  Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them. 

Col 3:20  Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. 

Col 3:21  Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged. 

Col 3:22  Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God: 

Col 3:23  And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; 

Col 3:24  Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. 

Col 3:25  But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons. 

Wives submit. Husbands love. Children obey. Husbands don't be bitter. Fathers provoke not anger. Servants obey. Whatever we do, do it for the Lord, not men.

Eph 5:22  Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 

Eph 5:23  For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. 

Eph 5:24  Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. 

Eph 5:25  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 

Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 

Eph 5:27  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. 

Eph 5:28  So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. 

Eph 5:29  For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: 

Eph 5:30  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 

Eph 5:31  For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 

Eph 5:32  This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 

Eph 5:33  Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband. 

Wives submit. Husbands love.

AS the church (the people who are God's) is subject to Christ….

Eph 5:24  Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. 

How are the people of God subject to Christ? What is our relationship with Christ? The church depends upon Christ for salvation. The church lives for Christ and His will. Without Christ there is no church at all whatsoever and by church I mean people who belong wholly to God. Without Christ there is no hope. We are to rely on Christ. And when we are exhorted as wives to be subject to our husbands we are being told to depend on them, rely on them. Immediately so many things come to mind from this. What if the man is not a follower of Christ? What if the husband is undependable, abusive in any way, unreliable for all things? We know that Christ is and forever will be dependable, reliable, that He has secured salvation for those who would be subject to Him. There is no doubt involved in the knowledge that God's people are subject to Christ, no doubt at all. However, when comparing being subject to Christ and being subject to a husband all sorts of doubts can surface. Ultimately we cannot escape the Biblically, God revealed fact that women are to be subject to men, wives subject to husbands. As a woman I can either choose to accept this as fact or rebel against God's word. As we talked about yesterday, there were women leaders of men. There were women who were prophets, a judge of all Israel was a woman, God has revealed His love of women just as He has revealed His love for men, saving both. Being born a woman is not an automatic death sentence in the eyes of God. We are loved equally.

When men and women are used as examples of Christ and Christ followers there is a very real and very necessary relationship boundary there. Christ followers will NEVER be Christ, they can NEVER be Christ. And we know any who claim to be Christ are in truth followers of Satan. We know that becoming lifted up- prideful, and wanting to be a god ourselves is wrong, yet that doesn't stop many from wanting this very thing.  We know God would have a people who are His and belong to no other god. We recognize the example of giving honor, praise and glory to God and God alone, these are simple to comprehend. The subjection of women to men is meant to inform us in a tactile way of the relationship of God's people to God.

In the same passages where women are told to be subject to their husbands, husbands are given instructions as well. They are told to love their wives, not to be bitter against them. When husbands fail to love and are bitter towards their wives, then they have failed in their example and that will be something they will be accountable to God for, just as we all are accountable to God as individuals.

LOVING the seemingly unlovable-  this is what Christ does.

LOVING the undeserving - this is what Christ does.

The seemingly unlovable, and undeserving once loved by Christ and accepting of that love - become lovable and deserving through Christ.

There is so much context here in these passages and ultimately they all boil down to this-

LOVING God first and foremost as individuals. From that love we love each other. Whether you're a husband or a wife the love that calls for submission - which is all love- is the love we need to have for each other. As individuals we love with the love of Christ. We can't wait for the perfect husband before we submit through the love of Christ to our husbands. Husbands can't wait for perfect wives before they love their wives.  If we wait for others to deserve our Christ given love, we don't have a Christ given love in us at all.

WE are to live our lives towards others as if we were living our lives towards Christ, towards God because we ARE seeking to do all things in Christ, out of the love of God.

If we are living to seek anything for ourselves before we seek to live for God we are not God's.

God first. And God first demands we love OTHERS as God loves us, as we would be loved by God.

So yes, let us wives submit to our husbands- just as we would submit to Christ.

Don't wait for your husband to be deserving. Christ didn't wait for us to be deserving.