A husband loving his wife as Christ loves the Church is about willingly seeking her highest good. This message from Ephesians 5 shows that this servant-leadership love should be unconditional, active, and ongoing. There are many twisted ideas about the headship of the husband in the home. Scripture is clear, however, that this headship is not a dictatorship, but comes with great responsibility and accountability to Christ. The husband is to model Christ’s care, sanctification, and commitment so that his wife feels secure, and flourishes—fostering harmony, oneness, and mutual respect.

We learn from this teaching in Ephesians 5 that the Bible has a lot to say about wives and their role within the marriage relationship—including willingly submitting to their husbands “as unto the Lord,” which runs counter to the post-Fall struggle for control. This submission is not about inferiority, coercion, or abuse, but a voluntary heart attitude of respect, support, and honor that affirms the husband's leadership role while maintaining equality in worth. A wife’s influence is to be directed toward nurturing children and building up her husband, ultimately glorifying God through Christlikeness.

In this episode, we examine how marital priorities from God’s perspective are best carried out. According to God’s Word, marriage is a gift of relationship from God that He intended for companionship, closeness, oneness, and growth. In Genesis 2, God laid out His blueprint for this divinely created institution in the Garden of Eden. The union of husband and wife requires full commitment from each—a complementary partnership of mutual support through life’s joys and challenges.