Colossians 3:18-21

Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.  Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.  Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.  Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

 

The family is a vital part of God’s mission in this world.  It is through the family that we understand and experience many aspects about God and His relationship with us.  We are members of the family of God as a result of salvation through faith in Christ.  Our families are to be used as instruments to expand God’s mission by reproducing image bearing children and evangelism.  

 

MARRIAGE MATTERS: Submission is one of those teachings that has fallen out of favor in the modern world. However, it is a vital part of the Christian life.  We are all called to a life of submission to the Lord and to one another.  The call for wives to submit to their husbands is not some denigrating teaching that was invented by male chauvinists.  It is a designation by God to help all of us understand the Trinity and promote healthy marriages.  As believers in the Lord submission should be a natural response for all of us.  The call for wives to submit does not exempt men from submission any more that the call for husbands to love exempts women from loving their husbands.  However, men must focus on being loving and kind instead of harsh because men can struggle with relationships in that area.  Men are to lead their families in a biblical way which means serving them and caring for them.  Marriages marked by sweet submission and loving leadership point people to Christ.  That must be our priority instead of debating and fighting of roles in marriage.  

 

PARENTING PRINCIPLES: Children are called to obey their parents.  Parents are called to not provoke their children.  Once again, the overriding principle of submission to one another is on display.  We are all born with a will to accomplish our own agendas.  Parents are responsible to teach their children to be obedient.  This will serve the children well in their studies and future employment.  Children who are not corrected by their parents will become angry and resentful people.  We all must learn to obey the Lord and those He places in leadership over us.  At the same time, we must learn to lead in a gracious and understanding way for the well-being of those under our leadership.  Parents must learn to be consistent in their standards and the way they discipline their children.  At the same time, but must be understanding of the limitations that their children have because of their stage of development.  Correction must be motivated by love and a desire to see growth, not out of anger, revenge, or embarrassment.  

 

APPLICATION: We are all called to submit to one another in all levels of our relationships.  God’s defined roles in marriage and parenting are for our own good and for his glory.  It is of vital importance that these principles of submission, love, obedience, and leadership be learned and modeled in the home.  Our families must be tools for advancing the mission. 

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