In the Colossians passage I was again struck by the prayer example of Paul. We can definitely learn about what and how to pray for believers - whether they are our friends or complete strangers!
In Colossians 1:9-14 Paul demonstrates that we can pray for believers to understand God's will, gain spiritual wisdom, please and honour God with the way they live their lives, bear good fruit, grow in the knowledge of God, be strengthened by God, to have great endurance and patience, to be joyful and to be thankful. All believers have these same needs and this is an excellent prayer pattern to model our prayers after.
In the Ephesians passage the passage on the marriage relationship is what struck me. Here are some thoughts from my Life Application Bible about this passage...
In a marriage relationship, both husband and wife are called to submit. For the wife, this means willingly following her husband's leadership in Christ. For the husband, it means putting aside his own interests in order to care for his wife....
Although some people have distorted Paul's teaching on submission by giving unlimited authority to husbands, we cannot get around it - Paul told wives to submit to their husbands. The fact that a teaching is not popular is no reason to discard it. One way to disarm the antagonism that the external culture may inject into the marriage relationship is to remember that the wife gets to submit and the husband gets to die. According to the Bible, the man is the spiritual head of the family, and his wife should acknowledge his leadership. But real spiritual leadership involves loving service (a form of dying)...A wise and Christ-honouring husband will not take advantage of his leadership role, and a wise and Christ-honouring wife will not try to undermine her husband's leadership....
Paul devotes twice as many words to telling husbands to love their wives as to telling wives to submit to their husbands. How should a man love his wife? (1) He should be willing to sacrifice everything for her. (2) He should make her well0being of primary importance. (3) He should care for her as he cares for his own body. No wife needs to fear submitting to a man who treats her in this way. (emphasis mine)
Tomorrow's passage: Colossians 1:24-4:18
1 comment:
What always sticks out for me in recent months about this passage is that marriage is supposed to illustrate the relationship between Christ and the Church. If I'm constantly viewing my marriage with that goal in mind, it tends to help me be a bit more willing to submit!!
I think it's in Hebrews were it says those placed in leadership roles will have to give account for the souls in their care, and I believe this to include Christian husbands as well. In his message opening one of the True Woman conferences this year, Voddie Baucham said this:
"Your husband is never going to be worthy of your submission, but you submit as unto the Lord because He is worthy of your submission, so you offer that submission to Christ, but you give it to your husband on behalf of Christ. That’s what you do.
No, your husband is not worthy of it, but here’s what I know: 1 Peter chapter 3, verses 1-6, God can actually use your submission in your husband’s life.
Here’s what I also know. If your husband is not being what he’s supposed to do, you’ve got two choices: because number one, God’s going to get your husband. I just believe that with every fiber of my being. God’s going to get him. He’s not being what he’s supposed to be. You’ve got two choices. God comes to your home for your husband to take him to the woodshed and, Number one: You’ve been a biblically submissive wife, so your husband gets to go to the woodshed by himself. Or number two: You’ve been holding on to your submission until your husband gets right, so you get to go to the woodshed with him!
How many want to take number one? Amen?"
There's some good incentive to play it God's way!! (If you're interested, that's from an awesome two-part broadcast starting here: http://www.reviveourhearts.com/radio/roh/today.php?pid=10615)
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