Honor Marriage

My pastor gave a great message this past week called Honor Marriage. He had his wife come up and speak for the parts that pertained to women. I especially liked the following part where he talks of the responsibilities of wives and husbands according to the Word and God's design for men and women. I thought it seemed to express a complementarian view nicely.

Wives are responsible to:

Respect Him. Ephesians 5:33b says, “and the wife see that she reverence her husband.” It was also suggested that you respect your husband by asking him your spiritual questions and by realizing that God will use him (saved or unsaved) to give you guidance. (1 Cor. 14:35)

Accept Him. Have confidence that God is working through him (Romans 8:28).

Be Grateful for Him. 1 Thess. 5:18 says, “In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”) Wives should try to give their expectations to God and take them off your husband. It will also be helpful for the wife to grow in 'godliness with contentment' (Colossians 3:1).

Influence Him (for good). Wives can gain influence by not rehearsing past failures but by demonstrating present faithfulness in showing genuine love, loyalty, a servant’s heart and by asking forgiveness.

Husbands are responsible to:

Look to Christ. Husbands need to understand that they are not on the top of the chain of command. As the wife is under the husband, so is the husband under Christ. Husbands need to spend more time looking up for our direction & answers, rather than down on their wives shortcomings.

Be a Spiritual Leader. Wives need to experience us actually leading spiritually. This means leading in such ways as regular times in God’s Word, faithfulness in prayer, regular church attendance, and discussion of spiritual matters, followed by searching the scriptures for God’s answer.

Share Vital Needs. Wives need to know that they are meeting vital needs in our lives that no one else can meet. This means the husband must share his fears, goals, and heart with his wife.

Understand their Wife. Our wives need to know that we will listen to hear their heart. They need to know that we are making efforts to understand them.

They also shared a funny personal story at the end to illustrate their message called The Beach Story. The audio is not yet available for this message but I'll add it when it is. Here's the audio--The Beach Story is at the end.

Complementarianism

"Complementarianism is the theological view that although men and women are created equal in their being and personhood, yet they are created to complement each other via different roles in life and in the church. It is rooted in a literal interpretation of the creation account and the roles of men and women presented in Scripture....

The opposing view to Complementarianism is Egalitarianism which maintains that the patriarchal patterns in the Bible are culturally bound and that there no inherent distinction in roles between men and women to be maintained today. Egalitarianism sees no acceptable equality in a hierarchy of roles between men and women." (Theopedia.com)

Love and Marriage: Luther Style

I loved reading this article (click on the picture) by Justin Taylor! It's about Martin Luther's marriage. (Luther is the guy who wrote the 95 Thesis inspired the Protestant Reformation.) The article is definitely worth reading and gives such an interesting perspective on marriage. It's actually the kind of marriage that I would want. One of my favorite snippets from the article is this: "Martin and Katie viewed marriage as a school for growing in godliness. Both of them took God seriously; and both knew how to correct the other when one of them was ignoring God and taking life too seriously. One day Luther was depressed and despairing. So Katie decided to put on a black dress for the day. Luther asked, "Are you going to a funeral?" "No," she responded, "but since you act as though God is dead, I wanted to join you in the mourning!" Exactly what Luther needed to hear. "

Also, the author of the article runs a blog called Between Two Worlds: A Mix of Theology, Philosophy, Politics & Culture. Check it out! It has lots of great information on everything from politics to marriage from a Christian perspective.

Martin Luther on Long Sermons & Other Things

On Long Sermons...

Some plague the people with too long sermons; for the faculty of listening is a tender thing, and soon becomes weary and satiated. ~Luther

And Other Things...

Total Depravity: I am more afraid of my own heart than of the pope and all his cardinals. I have within me the great pope, Self. ~Luther

Worry: Pray, and let God worry. ~Luther

Marriage: There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage. ~Luther

Misplaced Affections: Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your God. ~Luther

The Law: The law discovers the disease. The gospel gives the remedy. ~Luther