UPLIFTING MARRIAGE

Dining with Jesus Christian Episodes

PASTOR RYAN LADEN – DEVOTIONALS

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We human beings have the unfortunate ability to twist and pervert any and every good gift given to us by the Lord. We add rules and rituals where God gives grace. We take to extremes what the Lord has provided for our enjoyment. And in the case of marriage, we have tried our best to confuse and abuse the God-given roles of husband and wife. 

In the passage below, we are reminded that God has a great plan for marriage and that if we would simply receive this gift as it was intended, we would find a lot more happiness and peace in this life. 

21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 

28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 

31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

(Ephesians 5:21-33 NIV11)

Reaction

If we have any reaction to this teaching other than an appreciation for the fact that the Lord has created marriage in such a way that it brings us closer to God, then we are probably reacting to some twisted version of this teaching we have heard in our past. 

Verse 21

Ephesians 5:21 says, “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Before we get into the roles of husband and wife as provided by the Lord, we need to see that both parties in a godly marriage must begin by lifting up the other over self. 

The term for “submit” used in Ephesians 5 comes from the Greek word, hupotassō. This term carries the image of one thing sliding under another thing. 

We typically focus on this calling of submission as though it is degrading and damaging to the one who submits. But when both parties are seeking to be under the other, then both parties end up seeking to lift up the other over self. 

Serve

We need to remember that the Lord Jesus Christ himself came into our world and lives, not to be lifted up, but to lift us up, to serve others. Jesus Christ said it this way in Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Lifting one another up is the way to true happiness and peace in any relationship, but especially in the relationship of marriage. 

Husbands

Below you will find a collection of the commands being given to the Christian husband:

  •   Love your wife
  •   Sacrifice for her good
  •   Treat her as holy / belonging to God
  •   Make the Word of God an essential part of your relationship
  •   Treat your wife as one who has been made perfect in Christ
  •   Treat your wife BETTER than you treat yourself
  •   Provide for the needs of your wife
  •   Do not place anyone (even your mom) above your wife

Wives

Wives, read that list above. Would you seek to support and lift up your husband if he sought to treat you in these ways? I bet your answer is YES!!!

When you called to submit to your husband as unto the Lord, you are being asked to lift him up. To treat him well. To seek his growth, maturity, success, and happiness. If you love your husband, then there is nothing to fear in this calling. 

Inside the gift of Christian marriage, neither party seeks to be greater than the other. Both husband and wife are called to lift one another up as an act of worship unto the Lord. 

Conclusion

I love how this teaching concludes in verse 33, “However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”

Love and respect. Why do we mess this up rather than hold it up as a gift of God? 

Prayer 

Maybe you could pray this prayer today?

Lord Jesus Christ, I thank you for the way you set the example of love and servanthood. You deserve to be lifted up on high and yet you chose to lift me up and to serve me. Help me remember this gift as I seek to embrace my calling to love and serve others, especially my spouse. Where the enemy has twisted this gift, help me see the truth by the work of your Holy Spirit. Thank you Lord. 

In Christ, 

Ryan Laden

PASTOR RYAN LADEN


Works at MTN. CHURCH

Former Senior pastor at Warnbro Community Church

Studies at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Studied at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Studied at Baylor University

Studied at Texas Tech University

Went to Castle Hills First Baptist

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