Today I pause to remember what our Savior, Jesus, did for me; for you. He was innocent, but took my punishment for me. Not just a slap on the wrist, not a spanking or a time out, not even time in jail. He was beaten to near death, whipped, then hung to die. Jesus is my defender. I am the weaker. He is the stronger.
The Bible tells us that we, those who believe in Him, are His bride. It tells us He is our groom (bride groom). It is an organizational structure that God created. In our world as people, God has instructed, through the Bible, that in marriage men be the groom and women the bride.
Men, I wrote yesterday about being a man and taking care of and defending your wife and family because I believe that is the structure God created for us. We are to love our wives and to care for them and to lead them, just as Jesus has done for us all. I used strong language to incite an emotional response. Why? I have seen too many marriages fail and often hear the woman who was left behind talk about how upset she is that the one who committed to her, to care for her, to protect her and to love her just decided to leave. It may not be true for every woman, but my experience has shown me that many, if not most, women do want their husband to not only be their lover and friend, but also the one they can depend on and the one to lead the family.
Think about it this way: If God created us to be the bride and Jesus the groom, then isn’t this how we should approach marriage just as He says in Ephesians 5:23-32, “23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing[a] her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”[b] 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.”
If that verse makes you mad, read it again and look and see that the husband's role is not to dominate his wife, but rather to care for her and lead her. It doesn't say she is less valuable or less worthy. This verse has been used too many times by men thinking they can justify pushing their wives around and that was NEVER what God intended.
We have order and structure all around us; at work, in government, in organizations. With no structure and no one in charge, then who makes the final call? I know, I hear what you might be thinking. We don’t need one person to be in charge when we can have committees to decide. Sure committees can work and I am not going to say now that I think they are a bad option, however, they don’t work for a marriage because in a committee of two you either agree or disagree, but when a decision has to be made when the two don’t agree who makes it? Do you take turns? Who decides whose turn it is?
We are not in a committee with Jesus and He did not have any example of one in His ministry. Organizational structure set by our Lord and shown through Jesus is that we have one leader. In this way, a marriage has one leader too. The groom. That is how it was designed to be regardless of the strength or worth of either the husband or the wife. There are plenty of husbands out there that are weak and not willing to be the leader they are supposed to be. There are many women out there that are stronger than their husbands and who take care of the family and thankfully they do, but ideally, the husband will take his role and the wife will encourage him to. Now, this in mind, re-read yesterday's post (Man Mentality) and men, please step up and be who God created you to be.
Disclaimer:
This post will undoubtedly stir some of you up and may make you angry. If so, then I am sorry because that means that God’s word makes you angry. If that’s the case, then please talk with Him because He is in charge.
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