“Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands, as to the Lord.”
—Ephesians 5:22
I suppose there are some today who would love just to take their scissors and cut this verse right out of the Bible, but it's important for us to remember that submission is not merely for wives. Submission is for Christians, and the principle of reciprocal submission is introduced in this passage. Paul is dealing with the spirit-filled life.
The way that husbands are to express this submissive spirit is by living for their wives in sacrificial love, and to live according to the Biblical pattern of loving their wives even as Christ has loved the church.
It's been my experience through the years and my observation that when a man will truly be God's man… truly love his wife as Christ loved the church in sacrificial love and steadfast loyalty, then a Christian wife is more than glad to respond graciously and submissively to the loving leadership of her husband.
It begins with mutual submission. It begins with this attitude… this submissiveness that reflects in the commitment of the husband to the wife, the unconditional, loving commitment.
And even as Christ submitted to the will of the Father and submitted His life to give His life as a ransom for many, even we as believers are to live with that same attitude of submission.
My wife is not only my wife, she is my sister in Christ. We share a common love and we share a common life in Christ. And we have joined together in that life.
WE ARE ALL EQUAL IN JESUS CHRIST.
