Colossians 3:18-4:1
18 Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. 20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged. 22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 25 Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism. 4 Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.
B. SACRIFICE
“Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly.” Throughout the Bible, God says more about the quality of the husband’s leadership than He does about the wife’s submission. When Paul taught about roles in Ephesians 5, he devoted twice as many words to telling husbands to love their wives than he did in telling wives to submit to their husbands. The word “husband” originally meant one who holds the house together. Another image is that of a gardener who cultivates the soil and keeps the weeds out. As husbands, our responsibility is to love our wives by holding things together and providing an atmosphere for growth and fruitfulness in our homes. Where a wife is called to serve through submission a husband serves through sacrifice. Loving leadership it is not based on whether your wife is loveable.
The picture Jesus paints of leadership for his disciples is one of servant leadership, he described how the rulers of His day lorded leadership over people. Then He said among His followers it must be different those who want to be first should be last and those who want to be served should be a servant to all. Today we fight relational roles in marriage because we are preoccupied with position. Yet as a servant leader my position is least and my place is last. As husbands we will either be loving or lording. What does it mean to love your wife it means to touch her heart more than you touch her body! Today we have replaced our role of sacrifice with sex, we have reduced sacrifice to self-serving. Why is love so Essential? It protects against harshness. Men here is my challenge sit down with your spouse and ask her what touches her heart, find out when she feels loved. Don’t get mad she may tell you some hard truths, serve her by shutting your mouth and open your heart.
