God's Not Like That: Redeeming Inherited Beliefs and Finding the Father You Long ForSýnishorn

God's Not Like a Rebellious Wife

If the husband is a picture of Jesus and His sacrificial love for His church (as we saw in yesterday’s devotional), what is the wife a picture of?

In Ephesians 5:24 we read, “As the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.” The husband demonstrates the selfless love of Christ for His church, and the wife demonstrates the submission of the church to the love of Christ. She represents the bride of Christ in this beautiful love story.

The wife must accept the fact that her husband, illustrating Christ, is accountable before God for his family. That is a sobering responsibility that requires her cooperation. He cannot succeed without his wife’s commitment to be part of the team. But what does that mean?

If the husband’s role is to create an environment where she and other family members can flourish, then she must partner with him to help him understand what that environment should be. She must share with him what she needs. A husband and wife should work together to determine strengths and weaknesses. And she should cooperate with him so that he can be successful for her benefit.

The wife is to be an illustration of how the church should respond to the love of Christ. Rather than competing with her husband, she chooses to submit and cooperate with him and his role to create a beautiful picture of the love story God is seeking with us.

How did your mom picture the church and her response to the love of Christ? Is that picture attractive or disturbing to you?