A married woman ought to respect her husband (1)
1 Corinthians 11:3 read: ‘Now I want you to realise that the head of every man is Christ and the head of the woman is man and the head of Christ is God.
Ephesians 5:33 states: ‘However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.’ The husband must be respected because he is head.
The head is a symbol of authority and supremacy. We are now going to explore the issue of partnership and subordination. We are all in a line of subordination. A woman is subordinate to a man, men are subordinate to Christ and Christ is subordinate to God.
However, Christ is not inferior to the Father nor different from Him. Christ is equal with the Father, but has chosen to submit to the Father as a son in order to accomplish God’s purpose. The relationship of men and women must not be used to suggest that women are in some way inferior to men.
Respecting someone means treating someone with honour. A wife is being asked by God to honour the husband. When honour is accorded to someone, it carries with it some other behaviours.
The wife should be able to speak with respect to her husband. Proverbs 12:18 says; ‘Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Be quick to listen and slow to speak.’ The book of James, chapter 1:19 states; ‘My dear brothers, take note of this; everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. Commit yourself to speaking only what is right and true.’
