Daily Direction Reading PlanSample

Grant Hill is one of the most respected athletes in professional basketball. He played for Detroit, Phoenix, and Los Angeles; he holds numerous basketball records. Hill credits his parents for his values. He says they left a deep imprint on him, so now, in his marriage and with his own children, he models the values he got from his parents. He says the love and respect his parents had for each other he now seeks to show toward his wife, and to transmit to his children. Hill’s parents endeavored to model the values the Apostle Paul urged married couples to follow. In Ephesians 5, Paul urged all of God’s people to submit lovingly to one another. Then he tells husbands to show self-sacrificing love to their wives, the kind of love Christ exemplified when he sacrificed Himself for us. He urged wives to be submissive to their husbands. Yet notice: submission is voluntary, not something husbands can coerce. Paul says just as we voluntarily submit to Christ, so wives should voluntarily submit to their husbands, and both should submit to the Lord. When married couples live in harmony, onlookers get a glimpse of genuine love—like the love Christ has for the church. The affection, respect, and commitment we show our spouses can be a model for those who look on.