Category: Religion and Philosophy     Thursday, February 01, 2007

Ephesians 5:25

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

1 Pet. 3:7  

You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.

Check this out! A man and his wife get out of a car at Wal-mart. While they are walking inside they are arguing about something. Most likely one hour after this discussion neither one will remember what the topic of the argument was but never the less they are having a heated discussion going inside. I am parked in the distance listening and I hear him calling her belittling things like stupid and idiot! Then I hear the statement that hurts my spirit. "Didn't you listen today at church? The pastor clearly stated that Paul said women are to be quiet in the church. That must be because they aren't as smart as us men!"

        I am afraid that discussions like this one are more commonplace then we realize. Even if they are not as arrogant and bold as that one, I still witness a more subtle type of chauvinism everyday. I watch men talk down to their wives and even fiancés because they "feel" superior somehow. The truth is that most of these men have what is called a weak male ego that needs to "feel" superior because they know in their hearts they are not equal. It threatens them to think that a woman, any woman could do anything better than they could. Maybe they should try living with the fact that God called them to complete the man they love and then have that man treat them as a second class person. I guarantee if the shoe were on the other foot they would change the attitude quickly.

        God designed the family as this. One man and one woman joined together. (notice it doesn't say One man and one woman to serve the man!) They are to be fruitful and multiply. The man creating a world for his family and the woman being the helper, (Genesis) an heir to that world. Ok, if the family was a ship at sea, here is how it would go. The man is the Captain. He decides where the ship will go. He will fight off the storms and pirates and such. The woman is the first mate. She helps the Captain and constantly keeps an eye out for problems and opportunities that the Captain may miss if it were not for her. Even with that simple example we can see how valuable she is to the whole structure. Why belittle such a valuable part of yourself? (Now who is stupid?) Anyway the two verses above says it all in a nutshell.

Ephesians 5:25

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

        We are instructed to love our wives as Christ loved the church. How much love is that? Let's see, Christ never yelled at any woman in His encounters. He had women that financed His ministry. It was women that ministered to Him and gave all they had to Him. And what did Christ do for the church? HE DIED FOR IT! That is how much love we are commanded to give our wives. The next verse.

1 Pet. 3:7  

You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.

Let's see, live WITH your wives in an understanding (not belittling) way. Because they are weaker, They aren't great at arm wrestling (well most of them anyway) and they are second rate world builders (only because their husbands are their world) Next, show her HONOR because she is a fellow heir of the world you are building (the grace of life) what does it mean to honor someone? To never, ever, ever do anything that will embarrass! In this case that would be her, HUMMMMMMMMM!  Then check out that last line. So that your prayers will not be hindered! Wow! Ok guys; think about that for a minute. If you treat your wife inappropriately then your prayers might be hindered. That should back you up a little. If it doesn't, then there is something seriously wrong with you.

Why are these females so important? There are so many things I could share but for the lack of time and space I will only say this. Go read my first Blog about Genesis Chapter 2 Entitled "Male Chauvinism, part one".  God made the woman from man. He took away a part of the man…Then the man was not complete without woman. (makes sense) Women have a thinking process that could be called empathetic. They are relational creators that think about the interaction in worlds and relations. Men on the other hand are systematic thinkers. They need to know how things work and build systems into their worlds/lives to work for them. I will go more into all of that at a later time but now I am telling you women need men and the men need women. If it doesn't go that way we all miss out on one of Gods greatest blessing in creation.

Until later, Dave