Responsibilities Of A Christian Wife And Mother

When we speak of the responsibility of the wife to submit to her husband as unto the Lord, it is good to understand the basis of submission in marital and family relationships. This whole passage speaks of Christ's willingness to lovingly and sacrificially give Himself to meet our desperate need for forgiveness and eternal salvation. A sacrificial willingness to lovingly meet the needs of another is the essence of the concept of submission involved in the Christ-like marital and family relationship spoken of in this section of scripture.

When we speak of the responsibility of the wife to submit to her husband, it is also good to examine the principle of mutual submission outlined here. Followers of Jesus Christ are to be in Christ-like submission to each other in all their relationships. For the Christian, this principle of authority and submission applies to interpersonal relationships in all of the four basic institutions God ordained: government, church, work place and family. But especially in the family. Paul uses the family as an illustration of how such mutual Christ-like submission should work in every relationship a Christian has in every facet of his life. Our ministry in this world is a ministry of encouragement in which we each are to humbly render sacrificial service designed to meet the needs of others.

How does this work? This passage says wives are to submit to their husbands but then goes on to say that husbands are also to submit to their wives; even to the point of being willing to die for them. This submission does not require the husband to abdicate his responsibility of leadership, but it does require that he subdue his own desires, lift her load and fulfill her needs. The beauty of this mutuality of submission is stated by Paul when he says, "Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife." (I Cor. 7:3-4) We have here again the principle of authority and submission coexisting. This statement does not change headship responsibility. It merely recognizes the mutual submissiveness that should exist in a happy Christian marriage.

None of the preceding negates the wife's responsibility to recognize the headship of her husband and to be scripturally in submission to him in his God ordained leadership role. This passage is not the only passage that emphasizes that responsibility. "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord" (Col. 3:18) Here Paul tells the wife that she is to submit herself to her own husband. It is fitting and proper she do so. It is a well known and widely accepted law of human society. Cultures have recognized this for centuries; until very recently. No inferiority is indicated by the language used. He simply indicates she is so close to her husband that she possesses him and should want to willingly respond to him and meet his needs. After all, he is the one God has given her to care for her, protect her, provide her needs and give her real identity and security. But what if my husband won't accept his responsibility? What if he doesn't love me as he should? What if . .? God has Peter to deal with that situation in another place.