“Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.” – Colossians 3:18
Scripture reading: Ephesians 5:22-24 & 1 Peter 3:1-6
Your relationship with Christ must have an impact on your relationships with one another. This is really Paul’s burden in this section of his letter. In Verses 18 and 19, Paul begins with perhaps the most fundamental relationship there is: the relationship between a husband and his wife.
Wives are called to submit to their own husbands as is fitting to the Lord. To our 21st Century ears, these words are radically counter-cultural. To our Western world, these words are regarded as being repressive and misogynistic. But Paul’s words are no more counter-cultural today than they were when Paul originally wrote them. They’re just counter-cultural for the exact opposite reason.
When Paul was originally writing to the Colossians, wives had no real status or standing in society at all. In Greco-Roman society, wives were typically regarded as being nothing more than the possessions of their husbands.
But here in Colossians 3:18 and elsewhere in the Bible, their status is exalted. The Apostle Peter calls wives co-heirs of the grace of life. And as such, wives have the unique opportunity to mirror their Saviour to their husbands and to the world through their Christlike submission. Just as Christ submitted Himself to the will of his Father, Christian wives are to follow in their Saviour’s steps by submitting to their own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
Suggestions for prayer
Pray that Christian wives would submit to their own husbands as is fitting to the Lord. As they do so, pray that the world would see something of Christ in their beautiful submission.
Rev. Bryce De Zwarte is a native of Pella, Iowa and a graduate of Dordt University and Mid-America Reformed Seminary. Rev. De Zwarte has been serving as the pastor of the Adoration URC in Vineland, Ontario since April of 2020. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. This devotional is made available by the Nearer To God Devotional team, who also make available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com.
