On Sunday, we will be looking at the book of Colossians 3:18-25:
Rules for Christian Households 18Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. 20Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. 21Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged. 22Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 25Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.
As you read this, there are four main relationships that jump out at you:
1. Husbands and Wives
2. Children to Parents
3. Parents to Children
4. Slaves and Masters, or modern day language, Employee to Employer
I need your help this week during the sermon, I want to know your thoughts, stories and takes on these passages.
Would you please respond to this post (you can do so without me knowing whom you are) by doing the following:
1. How do you feel about these verses?
2. Tell me of successes when you have applied these principles.
3. Tell me of failures when you fail to adhere to these principles.
4. Your overall take on these verses, agree, disagree or somewhere in between.
I really need your help, please take a moment and post me a reply. If you are not a member of OSLC in Midland, Texas I would still love to hear your opinions as well, please put in your post you are NOT a member.
Thanks and see you on Sunday.
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4 comments:
I totally believe that God intended us to submit to our husbands. HOwever, this was when men were submersed in the role God provided for them: husband, father, breadwinner, bug-killer, lawn mower, trash taker-outer, etc. I feel like men have all but forfeited their roles as heads of the household by giving these roles away to women. I would LOVE to submit to my husband, were he the Man God intended for him to be. He is, however, just a guy that goes out and makes a living. I do that, too, now...as well as kill the bugs and mow the lawn. It's all but impossible to submit to an emasculated male, especially when he CHOOSES the emasculated role. I do it all. It's hard to be the woman God wants to me when I am having to fulfil the roles He intended my husband to fill. Get it???
I believe this has been one of the most widely misunderstood passages in the Bible. For a husband and wife who have mutual affection and love for each other, this should be easy. I love the fact that I can look up to my husband as the head of our home for direction and encouragement (this really makes things easy for me)and know that I will not be beaten down emotionally and physically or be humiliated. I look to him as the stronger (physically and emotionally) of the two of us. Does this make me weak? No way. I'm a stronger wife because I understand what my role is. God made the two sexes different. Thank Him very much. This does not mean I'm not an equal partner or am a subordinate to him in our marriage. Jim (yes, Todd, it's me Suellen writing) shows the love of Christ to me by the way he deals with me. This passage does not say anything about mistreating your household. It speaks of the contrary. I like one of the meanings in dictionary.com: submit- to present or propose to another for review, consideration or decision.
Todd -
I find these verses very interesting, especially since my husband is not a Christian. I often submit to him anyway, knowing that God leads him whether David knows it or not - or wants to know it. I find this especially hard in financial matters, since we seem to have different outlooks on finances sometimes. But I also pray a lot before submitting. There are other areas of our lives that I would not submit to him. For example, if he request was directly against my beliefs.
I think the children and parents thing is important, too. I was not the best mother when my children were young. I was clueless much of the time, and often did things the way my parents did with me. I know that I aggravated my son especially, and I'm sorry about that. I think there are better ways of handling children than through coercion, either physical or emotional. And I also think that children should question their parents' decisions occasionally. This provokes discussion, and allows parents and children to talk about the reasoning behind their choices. And this helps the children to learn about decision making, a vital skill in their growth.
Anonymous
I believe these verses are telling us how God would have us relate to others in a way that honors them and Him.
As an employee, I tried to do my work to the best of my ability most days. However, I did not always arrive on time, I took office materials home for personal use and I too often became involved in workplace gossip and backbiting. It wasn't until the last four years of my employment that the Holy Spirit convicted me to change these behaviors.
As a parent, I confess that I nagged my children and expected them to follow my orders without question (which of course they did not do!). Wise counsel from my husband and godly friends steered me onto a path of giving explanations and reasons for what I wanted them to do, listening to what they had to say and encouraging them. God continues to redeem these relationships.
I have to be honest that the verse about submitting to my husband was tough to swallow. I guess I had been influenced by the mindset in our society of "I am woman, hear me roar". Today's women complain about men being passive, even emasculated. Our own behavior is part of the reason that men are unable to fulfill the role God created them to have. I had to look honestly at how I treated my husband.
For myself, I was afraid to submit because I was afraid I would be crushed down, walked on, be a nobody. I didn't understand what it meant to submit. During a three day sabbatical a few years ago, I believe God spoke to me about this. Submitting means coming alongside your husband, standing under his arm next to his heart, helping to hold him up. It means respecting him in words and actions. It means allowing and encouraging him to make decisions and to fulfill his responsibilities. It means seeking his opinion and advice. It means praying for him daily to be raised to be the head of the family and the spiritual head of the household, as God intended.
For me, it also meant that I had to ask God to change my heart towards my husband and to give me godly thinking and actions. You see, I wanted to be independent and make my own decisions expecting him to go along with me. I expected him to read my mind and to know what I wanted or needed him to do, and then got mad when he didn't, even though I did not want to talk things out. No wonder my husband was confused by my behavior! I finally realized that if I wanted my husband to be in his God-given place, I was going to have to place him there in my heart, my mind and my actions. I began praying for God to bring my feelings, thinking and actions in line with His will. I began complimenting Coy, thanking him and doing little things to let him know how special he is to me. I started taking all decisions to him for his input. Most importantly, I started talking to him and really listening to him, even when he had things to say that were hard for me to hear.
I would like to say that God changed me overnight, but He's working on me about always telling the truth. I still have times when the dreaded "ME!ME!" monster rears its ugly head and tries to bring its destruction on our relationship. Thank God for the power we have through His Spirit and through prayer to overcome. Cindi
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