Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. (Eph. 5:22-24)

The apostle Paul tells us that wives should submit to their husbands in “everything.” But that does not mean a wife should do whatever a husband wants regardless of whether it is moral, kind, or good?

The biblical answer is – No! Each wife should submit to her own husband as to the Lord. The Lord never commands evil and never approves submitting to it. That means a wife is never obligated to do anything contrary to God’s Word. 

A wife submits to her husband as the church submits to Christ. That means wives remain spiritually responsible to order their lives for Christ’s witness and worship. Being married does not negate a wife’s primary obligation to honor God – in everything.

Honoring God may actually require resisting a husband’s desire to do what is evil, damaging to a family, or harmful to himself. That’s because submitting one’s desires and talents to the good of another does not require abandoning gifts but applying them selflessly for God’s purposes. 

So, we don’t use God’s gifts to bless others because they deserve it but because God does!

Prayer:

Lord, I know that submission to the spiritual needs of others is ultimately an act of worship. Even when it’s hard, help me to honor you by conscientiously and selflessly using the gifts you have given to bless another for Jesus’ sake.