If You Treat Your Wife Like A Thoroughbred, You'll Never End Up With A Nag Series

SERMON.956

“IF YOU TREAT YOUR WIFE LIKE A THOROUGHBRED, YOU’LL NEVER END UP WITH A NAG!”

COLOSSIANS 3:18-19

THE FIRST INSTITUTION GOD ESTABLISHED ON EARTH WAS THE HOME!

YET, IN OUR DAY AND TIME, A HAPPY MARRIAGE DOESN’T COME AUTOMATICALLY, BUT INSTEAD MUST BE MAINTAINED CONSTANTLY BY BOTH MARRIAGE PARTNERS.

ONE RECENT WOMAN COMPLAINED TO HER MARRIAGE COUNSELOR ABOUT HER HUSBAND: SHE SAID, “WHEN MY HUSBAND WON A TRIP FOR TWO TO HAWAII, HE WENT TWICE!”

CONFUCIUS ONCE SAID, “THE STRENGTH OF A NATION IS DERIVED FROM THE INTEGRITY OF ITS HOMES.”

SO, ONE OF THE GREATEST THINGS WE CAN DO AS INDIVIDUALS IS TO HELP BUILD AND MAINTAIN GODLY, CHRISTIAN HOMES.

IN OUR TEXT IN COLOSSIANS CHAPTER 3:18-18, THE APOSTLE PAUL IS VERY PRACTICAL AS HE DEALS WITH THE EVERYDAY RELATIONSHIPS OF OUR LIFE.

THE BACKGROUND FOR THIS TEXT IS AN IMPORTANT JEWISH AND GREEK SITUATION.

AS PAUL SAW IT, HUSBANDS HAVE AS GREAT AN OBLIGATION AS THEIR WIVES; AND THAT WAS AN ENTIRELY NEW THING IN JEWISH\GREEK CULTURE.

UNDER JEWISH AND GREEK LAW, A WOMAN WAS THE SOLE POSSESSION OF HER HUSBAND, JUST AS MUCH AS HIS HOUSE, HIS FLOCKS, OR HIS MATERIAL POSSESSIONS.

THE WIFE HAD NO LEGAL RIGHTS WHATSOEVER.

UNDER JEWISH LAW, A HUSBAND COULD DIVORCE HIS WIFE FOR ANY CAUSE, WHILE A WIFE HAD NO RIGHTS IN THE INITIATION OF A DIVORCE.

ONE OF THE FEW GROUNDS ON WHICH A DIVORCE MIGHT BE AWARDED WAS IF HER HUSBAND DEVELOPED THE DREADFUL DISEASE OF LEPROSY.

IN THE GREEK\ROMAN WORLD OF THE APOSTLE PAUL, THE WOMAN LIVED A LIFE OF ENTIRE SECLUSION.

SHE NEVER APPEARED ON THE STREETS ALONE, NOT EVEN TO GO TO THE PUBLIC MARKET TO BUY GROCERIES.

UNDER BOTH JEWISH AND GREEK LAWS AND CUSTOMS, ALL THE PRIVILEGES BELONGED TO THE HUSBAND, AND ALL THE DUTIES BELONGED TO THE WIFE.

BUT CHRISTIAN TEACHING CHANGED ALL THAT.

JESUS WAS THE FIRST REAL LIBERATOR OF WOMEN, AS JESUS ELEVATED THE WOMAN TO A NEW STATUS OF POSITION AND PRIVILEGE IN SOCIETY.

IN OUR TEXT IN COLOSSIANS, PAUL GIVES US GOD’S GUIDELINES FOR MARRIAGE.

IT’S VERY OBVIOUS THAT GOD VIEWS MARRIAGE AS A PARTNERSHIP.

“WIVES, SUBMIT TO YOUR HUSBANDS, AS IS FITTING IN THE LORD. HUSBANDS, LOVE YOUR WIVES AND DO NOT BE HARSH WITH THEM.”

The English translation from The Nestle Greek text is, "The wives, be ye subject to the (your) husbands, as is befitting in the Lord. The husbands, love ye the (your) wives and not be bitter toward them."

THERE IS PROBABLY NO BIBLICAL TEACHING MORE VERBALLY AND PRACTICALLY ABUSED THAN THIS CONCEPT OF THE WIFE’S SUBMISSION TO HER HUSBAND.

FOLKS, IT’S SO VERY IMPORTANT TO US TO UNDERSTAND WHAT GOD MEANS HERE WITH THE USE OF THE WORD “SUBMIT.”

THERE IS NO IDEA OF SUPERIORITY OR INFERIORITY IMPLIED BY THE USE OF THIS WORD.

ALLOW ME TO EXPLAIN IT THIS WAY.

IN THE GODHEAD, ALL THREE PERSONS ARE GOD, BUT SINCE EACH PERSON OF THE GODHEAD HAS A DIFFERENT ROLE, THERE ARE GIVEN TO EACH PERSON OF THE TRINITY DIFFERENT CHARACTERISTICS AND ATTRIBUTES.

JESUS SUBMITTED TO GOD THE FATHER, YET HE WAS NOT INFERIOR TO GOD THE FATHER.

AS CHRIST LIFTS US UP TO STAND BESIDE HIM, SO IS THE MAN TO LIFT HIS WIFE UP BESIDE HIM, GRANTING HER HONOR, PROTECTION AND PROVISION UNDER GOD’S REIGN.

THE HUSBAND IS NEVER TOLD TO “MAKE YOUR WIFE SUBMISSIVE OR TO BEAT HER INTO SUBJECTION.”

INSTEAD, THE HUSBAND’S DUTY IS TO LOVE HIS WIFE AS CHRIST LOVES THE CHURCH

SO, GOD’S DESIGN FOR SUBMISSION HAS ALWAYS BEEN GOD’S UNIQUE PLAN.

ADAM AND EVE WERE CREATED EQUAL, YET GOD PLACED EVE IN SUBMISSION TO ADAM.

I’VE NEVER TALKED TO A WOMAN WHO WOULD NOT BE WILLING TO BE UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF HER HUSBAND WHO LOVES HER LIKE CHRIST LOVES THE CHURCH.

MEN, THAT PUTS THE MONKEY SQUARELY ON OUR BACKS!

AND WE’VE GOT TO LEARN TO BE MORE SENSITIVE AND MORE CONCERNED WITH THE NEEDS OF OUR WIVES.

ONE LADY RECENTLY DEFINED A PERFECT HUSBAND AS A MAN WHO COOPERATES WITH HER EFFORTS TO IMPROVE HIM.

I RECENTLY READ A STORY OF A BUSINESSMAN WHO’S WIFE WAS EXPERIENCING A DEEP STAGE OF SADNESS.

SHE BEGAN TO MOPE AROUND AND YOU COULD SEE THAT THERE WAS NO LIGHT IN HER EYES, NO SPRING IN HER STEP; SHE WAS BASICALLY JOYLESS.

HER CONDITION BECAME SO SERIOUS THAT HER HUSBAND DID WHAT ANY SOPHISTICATED PERSON WOULD DO.

HE MADE HER AN APPOINTMENT WITH A PSYCHIATRIST, AND THE THREE OF THEM SAT DOWN AND BEGAN TO TALK.

IT WASN’T LONG BEFORE THE WISE DOCTOR ANALYZED THE PROBLEM.

WITHOUT SAYING A WORD, THE DOCTOR SIMPLY STOOD UP, WALKED OVER TO THE LADY, LOOKED HER IN THE EYES, AND GAVE HER A BIG WARM HUG.

INSTANTLY YOU COULD SEE A DRASTIC CHANGE COME OVER THE WOMAN.