Gary Patton People Development Coach to Christians

You will find,  Rachel,  a lot of answers to your question re the husband being the so-called "head" of the home in related topics.

My answer is shorter,  more simple, and marriage-peace-enhancing than most of those. 

After 48 years of marriage, my wife,  Karen,  and I have found that, oftentimes painfully, for me,  the so-called "man of the house" to always take the lead is not wise and not as helpful in facilitating a happy marriage.  

Therefore,  we have chosen,  together, to put the stress in our relationship before God on Ephesians 5:21 as the contextual setting for the verses that follow. It says: "Submit to one another."

Too many evangelical men and women focus only on verse 22 and teach that the man is the "boss of his wife and kids".  They ignore,  completely,  the context of verse 21. The latter command is separated, in many Bibles, from those that follow re family relationships by an interesting,  some would say sexist, and certainly, extra-Biblical heading. 

Karen and I like and prefer a paraphrase of Chuck Swindol's of verse 22: "Wives obey your slave!"

God bless you and all those you adore as you seek, together with your partner, Holy Spirit's heart re what He inspired the Apostle Paul to write for your marriage's direction...in love!

January 07 2014 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report