Hard To Hear...

In my last post I mentioned that I was reading through the Bible over three years with the intent to focus on passages that relate to marriage. I'm really excited about this plan, because the reading is so quick and it allows me to have time to really understand what I'm reading. Today's reading was Genensis 3 - the fall of mankind.

The second half of verse 16 really got me today:

To the woman He said,  "...Yet your desire will be for your husband,  And he will rule over you." (Genesis 3:16 NASB)

We'll get there much later on, but the New Testament talks about how the man is head of the wife (Ephesians 5:22) and how the wife should submit to her husband (Ephesians 5:22) which is totally in keeping with Genesis 3:16. And I know this really irks some people out there - people will argue about those points until they are blue in the face. In this day and age of feminism, some women can't accept that they should submit to anyone and they won't worship any place that dares to cover this topic. If you are already closing out your browser, stick with me...

Ephesians 5 is not just verses 22 and 23. No one - NO ONE - should read those verses in a vacuum.  There is a whole, beautiful chapter that you miss out on! Actually, just read the rest of verse 23:

For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. (Ephesians 5:23 NASB)

Then pick up in verse 25:

Husbands love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. (Ephesians 5:25)

And verse 28:

In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. (Ephesians 5:28)

So, yeah, wives should submit to their husbands, but then the husbands are supposed to really love their wives - and not just a physical lust "love" that so many people think of today. This is real, true, genuine love - the same love that Christ has for the church, which he died for. The same love you have for yourself - which is hopefully a love that respects and honors yourself. That is what we should see in marriage!

In a perfect world, the woman submits but the man (because he loves her so much he'd die for her) will never ask her to do something she doesn't want to. In that light, it's not so bad, right? And this is coming from someone who believes in girl power! But I believe in the power of Jesus' blood even more!