Who Supplies Our Needs?

Respect

Respect:

Eph. 5:33b   and let the wife see that she respects and reverences her husband [ that she notices him, regards him, honors him, prefers him, venerates, and esteems him; and that she defers to him, praises him, and loves and admires him exceedingly].

Respect means “she notices him”.

•         Can your husband see that you notice him?

•         Is your focus on him when he walks in the door, or still on the children, dinner, or school?

Respect means “she regards him”.

•         Regard – to look towards, to observe, to attend to with respect and estimation, to value; to attend to as a thing that affects our interest or happiness; to fix the mind on as a matter of importance. (Noah Webster 1828)

•         Can your husband see that you regard him?

Respect means she honors, prefers, venerates and esteems him.

•         Honor – to esteem highly, to revere

•         Prefer – Did you know that you are to prefer your husband first and foremost? That means before your children and only after God

•         Esteem – to set a high value on.

•         Does your husband know how much you value him? Have you told him?

Respect means that she “defers” to him, praises him.

•         Defer – to leave to another’s judgment and determination; to yield to another’s opinion

•         Praise – to commend or applaud; to extol in words or song; to express gratitude

Respect means that she loves and admires him exceedingly

•         Titus 2:3-5   Older women, likewise, are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips, nor enslaved to much wine; teaching what is good, that they may encourage the younger women to *love their husbands*, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, that the Word of God may not be dishonored.

Submission is a relational position

Submission is a "relational position". Submission means you are relationally "situated under" one in authority. Just as the Church is "situated under the blood of Jesus", we are situated under the LOVE of our husbands.

This is relational. Why under? Ephesians 5:25-27

•         Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her,

•         So that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word,

•         That He might present the church to Himself in glorious splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such things [that she might be holy and faultless].

Why under?    So that we can be covered

•         As the church is seen under the blood of Jesus, the wife is seen as under the love of her husband. How is the church seen by God? How is the wife seen?

•         Ephesians 5:27 That He might present the church to Himself in glorious splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such things [that she might be holy and faultless].

(So… you wanna get rid of wrinkles??)

Love “Covers”….

•         1Peter 4:8  -  Above all things have intense and unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins [forgives and disregards the offenses of others].

•         Proverbs 10:12   Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.

Adapt

Adapt-

Ephesians 5:22

•         Wives… be subject …

•         (be submissive and adapt yourselves) \

•         to your own husbands as [a service] to the Lord.

Adapt “To make suitable, to fit or suit”
   (Noah Webster 1828 Dictionary)

•         We are to adapt ourselves to our husbands needs

•         Submission involves adapting…(or changing our plans) in order to fit into the plans of our husband

Our Words....

Proverbs 14:1   The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish tears it down with her own hands. (or with her own words?)

•         A woman can act foolishly and destroy her marriage and ultimately her family, and yet not even be aware that she is violating God’s principles. It is God’s principles that build a successful home. Are you murmuring?

Our Words…....

…Can build up or tear down.

•         Proverbs 31:11-12 Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.

     •         We can tear down our husbands by words we speak TO him or by words we speak ABOUT him.

“She will comfort, encourage and do him only good as long as there is life within her.” (Amplified Version)

•         As long as there is life within her, she will comfort, encourage and do him good.

     •         This is the opposite of murmuring.

•         God created us to comfort and encourage.

•         No wonder we are miserable when we complain, nag, and look on the negative side of things.

I have been thinking about a friend's words tearing down in the spirit...someone we have always trusted to hold us up prayerfully; we relied on their love for us. It is extremely distressing and troubling... to the point where sleep is lost over it... and this is "just" a friend...

Then I thought about how a husband would feel about loving and trusting his wife... relying on her to lift him up in prayer... how much more distressing... how much more troubling if she were to tear him down spiritually in her words to others....

Lord, let the words of my lips and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You. Let my words be grace seasoned with salt. May they build up, encourage, edify, and not tear down.