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1 October 2007
Ephesians 5 v 21-24
Yield to obey each other because you respect Christ.
Wives, yield to your husbands, as you do to the Lord, because the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church. And he is the Saviour of the body, which is the church. As the church yields to Christ, so you wives should yield to your husbands in everything.
What? 'Wives, yield to your husbands'? 'The husband is the head of the wife'? Is my future wife destined to a meagre life of attending to my every whim? Well, before the guys get too comfy, let's take a closer look.
The central structure to this passage is a comparison between a marriage and Christ's relationship with the church. And the linking feature? To yield. Just as we yield to Christ so should we yield to one another. In case there's any doubt in our minds about that, the writer, Paul, repeats the word five times. We find that it's not a question of power, but of giving up power; not a very glamorous message because, in reality, who wants to give up power? Who would actually choose to hand over the TV remote when their favourite programme is about to start?
Paul's unavoidable message is that our daily relationships should imitate our relationship with Christ; that our decision to follow Jesus is not simply a question of what we believe, but of how we choose to live and interact with other people. So it throws up some pretty tough questions about our relationships. Do we try to serve our friends in the same way as we try to serve Christ or are we too keen to get our own way all the time? Do we give our family the respect we would our Saviour? Are we seeking to honour our boyfriend/girlfriend through our relationship with them or just to satisfy our own demands? Maybe you don't need to hand over that remote, but you do need to make another change.
Lord Jesus, you're my King. I want to worship you with my whole life so please show me how I can honour you in my relationships with others. I'm sorry for the times when I let myself be ruled by selfishness, but show me how to yield my own will. Amen.
Written by Tom thingyburn
Ephesians 5 v 21-24
Yield to obey each other because you respect Christ.
Wives, yield to your husbands, as you do to the Lord, because the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church. And he is the Saviour of the body, which is the church. As the church yields to Christ, so you wives should yield to your husbands in everything.
What? 'Wives, yield to your husbands'? 'The husband is the head of the wife'? Is my future wife destined to a meagre life of attending to my every whim? Well, before the guys get too comfy, let's take a closer look.
The central structure to this passage is a comparison between a marriage and Christ's relationship with the church. And the linking feature? To yield. Just as we yield to Christ so should we yield to one another. In case there's any doubt in our minds about that, the writer, Paul, repeats the word five times. We find that it's not a question of power, but of giving up power; not a very glamorous message because, in reality, who wants to give up power? Who would actually choose to hand over the TV remote when their favourite programme is about to start?
Paul's unavoidable message is that our daily relationships should imitate our relationship with Christ; that our decision to follow Jesus is not simply a question of what we believe, but of how we choose to live and interact with other people. So it throws up some pretty tough questions about our relationships. Do we try to serve our friends in the same way as we try to serve Christ or are we too keen to get our own way all the time? Do we give our family the respect we would our Saviour? Are we seeking to honour our boyfriend/girlfriend through our relationship with them or just to satisfy our own demands? Maybe you don't need to hand over that remote, but you do need to make another change.
Lord Jesus, you're my King. I want to worship you with my whole life so please show me how I can honour you in my relationships with others. I'm sorry for the times when I let myself be ruled by selfishness, but show me how to yield my own will. Amen.
Written by Tom thingyburn
