Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them. Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality. Colossians 3:18-25
Paul here is concluding the character traits of the New Man, and is saying, and now in regards to relationships within the home. Now, if you think you’ve read this before, you’re right, Paul did go over this in Ephesians, in writing to the Christians there at Ephesus, and here in our text, God is giving us very straight forward and very simple rules for marriage and the raising of families, and is also correlating something very profound. The integrity that is needed in the work place, is connected to the integrity in the home. Let’s take a closer look. The first two rules Paul is giving us has to do with first the wife, then followed by the husband. And if we’ll follow after these rules we indeed can enjoy a very happy and spiritually prosperous marriage. But the consequences of violating these rules, will bring along with it misery into the marriage relationship. By remembering v.25; there is no partiality with the Lord. To the wife, submit to your own husband, as is fitting in the Lord. The Greek word for ” submit ” means ” to subject oneself ” which denotes willingly putting oneself under someone or something. How do I go about this, you may ask? Remember v.23-24 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.While our country is deciding on whether women should be allowed to serve in combat, for you Christian women, you are already in combat! The spiritual battle that is going on against you, is that you do not need to submit to any man’s authority, and that you have rights too! The enemy Satan, would love for you to continue in your thinking that you do not need any man to have authority over you. Certainly not the failings of a husband to that has no likeness to Jesus Christ. Key word here is as to the Lord. Knowing also, that you will receive a reward of the inheritance for the home your building with your husband. Marriage is meant to honor and glorify God. Why else is it so always under attack!
Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them—This is the highest form of love which renders unselfishly the way Christ loves the church. God knows that the greatest need a woman has is to know that she is loved, and that she is loved supremely. For when she knows that she is loved supremely, she is secure, and with her security, she then finds it easy to submit to him. She is secure in her husbands love for her, and does not doubt his love for her. Christians should never doubt that God loves them. Jesus Christ, is God’s act of love to us. As the wife submits the husband finds it easier to show her his love for her, and thus creating the atmosphere of a marriage that obeys God’s command to love one another. Well, anyone who is married knows, it is extremely difficult to always have this type of love and commitment. So we must rely upon the Holy Spirit in the marriage to help keep us on track, and keep us in rememberance, that we are doing all this, as unto Jesus, and not unto men. Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord—Here we find the reason God is well pleased. The only limit on a child’s obedience is when parents put demands on them that is contrary to God’s Word. Leading up to blocking the way to coming to the Lord. God takes great pleasure in seeing little ones recite Scripture, and learn Biblical truths, and as they are developing to maturity, they have a clear understanding of their need for salvation. For it’s easier to build a boy, then to mend a man. Meaning, Parents, you have a huge role in the developing of your childrens understanding of who God is.
Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged—It’s so easy to discourage your children through unreasonable demands. Yet, God isn’t like that to us. The Bible tells us: To present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which your reasonable service ( Romans 12:1 ), It is reasonable God says of us to do. Isn’t it interesting how we want our children not to make the same mistakes that we made. How we want them to be better than we were. If were not careful, we will be placing unreasonable demands on them, that puts so much pressure on them to perform at a level that you were never made to perform at, what makes us think they should have to as well. So Fathers, don’t place the weight of discouragement on your children. The Lord can show you how to have that balance of not letting your children experience life too early, yet, not be so overbearing on them that you set them on the pathways a discouraging road in raising them.
Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God—You know the greatest gift you can give your family, is the continued whole-hearted devotion to the Lord. Then they will see dad’s commitment to Christ, which means that I don’t steal from my employer, in time rendered in which I am expected to be at my job, work my job to the best of my ability etc. It honors the Lord, and gives others the encouragement to give their best as well. It enables superiors in the work place to be able to trust you in a wide variety of responsibilities, increasing your monetary gain so you can support your families. Mom’s too. Many working mom’s have to juggle the home and work life to sustain the families income. When we do all of our work as to the Lord, it brings glory to God, and blesses the home as well.
Beloved friend, Today our marriages and homelife is constantly under attack. The enemy would love for us to think that we cannot do this anymore, that we might as well give up. We need the strong whole hearted devotional life to the Lord to finish our race. The workplace must be unto the Lord, and not unto men. Not hypocritical men-pleasers, but solid biblical thinking Christians who are confident in working even if it’s considered the most menial jobs, as to the Lord. So when you are home with your families, you can enjoy the blessing that God has given us: When you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you. Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house, your children like olive plants all around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord.( Psalm 128:2-4)
May the Lord bless your walk today!
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