Covering Colossians 3:18-19 this Sunday.
ugh.
Well? What do you think? What is submission? What does it look like to love without selfishness? Is it too late for me to find a new vocation?
I may try to wear Kevlar.
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WONDERWHAT 
This why they pay you the big bucks!!
I’ve probably read these verses, or heard them read 1000 times. I had never noticed their connection to the previous verses ( again, one of the reasons I LOVE going verse by verse). Taken out of context all of this love her, submit to him stuff sounds really old covenant. But when taken in context it all makes sense. It is simply Paul “bottom lining ” what this new life will look like.
I remember back several years ago when the Southern Baptist Convention split (and an ugly split it was) over this very scripture. The news reported even ‘Jimmy Carter’ was in disagreement over the oppressive and outdated opinion the ‘other side’ held. These aren’t the only folks that have rejected one another throughout history as well as the many in my life I’ve come across that have had such hard feelings. What a shame that in a world so full of sin and in such a need of strong, informed and loving Christians that all can’t hear what we were taught this morning. What else would God have in mind in His design for man as he had Paul deliver? If one confesses the scripture is of God then why not read it, and see it as just that, His will for us. To “…submit to your husband…” and to “…love you wives…” are like a morning needs an evening to make a day. It takes both. If you subvert the intent God wanted with “I don’t like that word submit” or “I do love her so why do I have to tell her all the time” then I guess that’s what you get , a subject any preacher in his right mind recoils from!
In the past, I was told these sciptures meant that the husband was “in charge of” the wife, but I now believe that we are under grace and not the law. So many still turn back to the law of the Old Covenant from the Old Testament and this has caused many abuses to women. Jesus changed everything when He died for us. God designed different roles for each member of the family, but we are all equal. The more we understand Jesus and His sacrificial love and grace, with the Holy Spirit in our hearts, the more our “partnership” of marriage will bloom into the special relationship God intended it to be.
Hmm. Love without selfishness…isn’t that the cookie behind the glass? I find myself having to ask for grace to do things I seem to repeat on a daily basis…picking up shoes left in the middle of the room, answering same questions, completing other’s chores, etc. Some days it’s hard to maintain a joyful attitude. Then there’s those family members who just don’t respond to any love or kindness; full of bitterness and anger. Finding a way to keep a heart of love for them is almost impossible. BUT, I think these are examples of what Christ would give as Love Without Selfishness. Loving without expecting any warm fuzzy feelings for the words, deeds, or emotions we offer. That seems contrary to our nature…it IS contrary to our nature. I have to be reminded, sometimes hourly, that I have been given a NEW nature; I am a new creature with a new perspective and a new way to love. It’s not always easy, but God’s grace pours the ability into my being even on the most difficult days.
As wives, all that we do for and to our husbands should be to honor our God; to support and encourage him as Christ encourages. As husbands, loving our wives should be with a gentle and protective spirit; not causing her to feel second rate, but loving her as Christ does. Christ should be our role-model in all things LOVE!