Good morning people who purpose to live as God has instructed us to live.

Colossians 3:18 NIV Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

Ephesians 5:22-24 NIV Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 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. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

Wives are commanded by God to submit to (obey) their husbands in everything, and we are told that this is fitting (proper) to the Lord. We must not overlook the last three words of the previous sentence: to the Lord.

A repeating statement in Colossians 3 is doing everything unto the Lord. This includes how husbands and wives treat each other. If God can’t smile on it, husbands and wives shouldn’t do it.

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. 

Many people hate this statement of the husband is the head of the wife. But this hatred comes from either husbands who don’t live as Christ has called them to live, or from wives who buy into the broken system of this rebellious world.

It’s time for wives and husbands to come back to God’s kingdom ways.

As the head of the church, Christ is the Provider and the Protector of the church. As the head of the church, Christ is the Saviour; the deliverer of the church. In other words, Christ always does the church good. Christ literally laid down His life for the church.

And this is how husbands are commanded to love and lead their wives!

“Steve, I thought we were talking about wives submitting to their husbands?!”

We are, but we must do so how the Bible talks about it, and the Bible puts a husband’s  responsibility to love and to lead his wife central to His command for wives to submit to their husbands.

God wants healthy marriages, and healthy marriages are only possible if we do things God’s way.

Good morning people who follow God’s established pattern for marriage.

Colossians 3:18-19 NIV Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

Marriages are under attack. The primary reason for this is that God created marriage, and He did so between a man and a woman. He was not unclear on His design, and we must not be unclear on it today – it hasn’t changed.

Wives and husbands have equal value in the eyes of God. Every person is infinitely loved by our heavenly Father. But wives and husbands do not have equal function or authority. Obviously, this statement can spark some controversy and kickback, and understandably so in some situations. But please hear me on this: Kickback on this is only due to wrong beliefs or wrong behaviour.

When God’s ways operate as He declared them to be, there will be no kickback from godly people.

Wives are to be a helper suitable for their husbands (Genesis 2:18), and they are to submit to their husbands (Colossians 3:18). This is what God said.

Husbands are to love their wives in the same way that Jesus loves His church and gave Himself up for her (Ephesians 5:25). This is what God said.

We are going to lean into this more tomorrow, but I leave you today with the following Scripture to meditate on.

Ephesians 5:22-28 NIV Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 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. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 

Ephesians 5:33 NIV However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.  

Good morning people who live a life that is congruent with God’s nature.

Colossians 3:17 NIV And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Everything is to be done for the glory of God – everything.

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.

What does it mean to do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus?

At its core, this means that we should be able to confidently and accurately attach the name of the Lord – the character and authority of the Lord – on to anything we say and do. Please stop and consider this.

When God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses, this truth is included in this short list:

Exodus 20:7 NIV “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.”

Most people would assume this to mean don’t blaspheme, and indeed, this is absolutely imperatively true! But it’s not just about avoiding using a name of God as a swearword. It is also about not doing something in the name of God that does not accurately represent Him.

Tragically, many atrocities have been done throughout history in the name of God that have had their root in the devil, not in God. If it doesn’t display the character of God, then it is not of God. If it is not redemptive in nature, then it is not God. If God is not glorified, then it is not of God.

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

We should be able to give thanks to God the Father through Jesus whenever we say or do anything. Again, this is a big statement, but it’s what the Word of God says! This is how Jesus lived, and this too is how we are called to live.

Good morning people who do absolutely everything for the glory of God the Father.

Colossians 3:17 NIV And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

This Scripture sums up so much!

There is no separating line in our life between natural and spiritual.

I believe this truth needs to sink in deep in our lives. A common thought and even narrative is that some things are spiritual and some things are just natural. While this is true on one level, to apply it to our lives in relation to God is to set ourselves up for problems.

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed.

And whatever you do. Put another way: And in everything you do. And in case that is not clear enough: in word and deed; in everything you say and in everything you do. It reminds me of the following Scripture that Paul penned:

Philippians 4:9 NIV Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

There is no part of our lives that shouldn’t be an example worth following. In every moment, we are a signpost to God. In every moment, we are called to glorify the Lord God Almighty with our whole being. While this sounds radical, it is normal New Testament Christianity.

Are there areas of your life that need to be submitted to the Lordship of Christ?

Good morning people who encourage and strengthen others with the gospel of Jesus.

Colossians 3:16 NIV Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly.

The message of Christ is not something that we should just occasionally hear or even share.

The message of Christ is to live in us deeply!

Christ Himself lives in us through the Person of the Holy Spirit – praise God this is true!

Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

One of the ways that the message of Christ is to dwell in us richly is through what happens as we join with other believers. We don’t just gather to do our thing. As we have talked about recently, we must always remember, celebrate and prioritise the truth that we are part of the body of Christ.

As we gather, we focus on the message of Christ in what is taught and in what is sung. This is a great opportunity to point us to the essential need for Christ to be the centre of our preaching and our singing. Messages and songs about who God is as our Messiah and Saviour are an imperative part of our time with other believers.

I also note that there are times when admonishing, that is, to put in mind, to caution and reprove gently is needed. It is very easy to get offtrack and to be focused on circumstances more than on Christ. In these times, we need to lovingly redirect each other to the supremacy of Christ. This is what godly friends do.

And then Paul closes this particular verse with the often-quoted instruction to have gratitude to God expressed from our lips. Our singing is best accompanied with heartfelt thankfulness to our indescribably good God!