A Two-way Street

A Two-Way Street

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. . . . As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything. For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her. Ephesians 5:21-25

The relationship between a husband and wife is a two-way street. If the wife is going to submit to her husband—a word that makes many people uncomfortable—it has to be in the context of the husband loving his wife as Christ loved the church, enough to give up his life for her . . . day after day.

Similarly, if the husband is expected to give up his life for his wife, she has to be submitted in love and devotion to him. The mutual responsibilities of the husband to the wife and the wife to the husband are complementary to each other. They fit together just as the differences between the husband and wife complement each other.

Lauren and I are as different as night and day in many things that are part of our lives. The reason is simple: we were each created unique, like no one else, with our own sets of gifts and abilities, different things that interest us, and varying objectives and goals we want to accomplish. And yet despite all those differences, God brought us together. Why? To complement each other. To leverage our gifts and abilities for His Kingdom purposes. The unique insights, passions, life experiences, knowledge, and wisdom have been given to us for the benefit of each other and our marriage—and for the beneficiaries of that relationship, family and friends and the many others God brings into our lives.

There is no doubt in my mind that God had that in His mind when we stood before each other at the altar. Both Lauren and I bring what God created in us to this marriage relationship, for this time, for each other, and for all whom we will impact together in the days, months, and years ahead.

And it starts with mutual love and submission.

Uncommon Key > If you’re married, think of how your spouse complements you. If you’re single, what complementary things do you think God wants you to look for in a future spouse?