Hello Everyone! I’m Sarah and I blog over at Life on Walnut Street.
I am really excited to be able to share with you today. (A big thanks to the ladies over at Fancy Little Things for having me come and visit!) Today is Valentine’s Day and I wanted to share with you some thoughts on Marriage, taken from Ephesians 5 - Want to have a Healthier Marriage in just ONE step…keep reading!
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 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. (Ephesians 5:22-24)
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. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. (Ephesians 5:25-33)
If we claim to follow Christ, most of us have heard these verses before, in fact most of us probably had them in our wedding ceremonies. It does seems like a pretty tall order. Good stuff, but how do we actually DO this? I believe that Paul actually provided us the answer to this question, even before he gives is the command, and it is found if we look up a few verses.
Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be intoxicated with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. (Ephesians 5:17- 20)
It is interesting that Paul gives the command not to get “drunk on wine” but to be “intoxicated with the spirit” – Was this Paul’s 1st Century anti-alcohol campaign? I’m not so sure, but I do think that he brings it up for a good reason. Let’s think about what happens when the human body and human mind are “drunk”
1. You do and say things that you would normally never have the courage to so if you were in your “right mind”
2. You find an attitude of boldness that you don’t normally possess.
3. You are less embarrassed of what other people will think of your actions.
4. You make choices that you would otherwise NEVER make.
Alcoholic drunkenness, is un-arguably not a state of mind that we as Christians are called to live in. But again, I believe that Paul brings this point up, not to argue against alcohol but to make a vivid comparison (in the next part of the verse when he instead says that we are to be “intoxicated with the Holy Spirit”
What does it mean to be intoxicated with the Holy Spirit and how is that going to help my marriage?
Well, I’m glad you asked. Guess what…
1. If you are intoxicated with the Holy Spirit you will do and say things that you would normally never have the courage to do if you were in your “worldly- mind” like…submitting to your husband!
2. If you are intoxicated with the Holy Spirit you find an attitude of boldness that you don’t normally possess to stand up and live out the call and the convictions that Christ has placed on your family regarding marriage.
3. If you are intoxicated with the Holy Spirit you will be less embarrassed of what the world will think of your actions even if they go against what the world believes a woman and a wife should be .
4. If you are intoxicated with the Holy Spirit you will make choices that you would otherwise NEVER be able to make and commit to keeping.
And, Ladies, if you think that you’ve got a lot to do to fulfill your part in all this, think long and hard about what the men are instructed to do:
“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.”
Our Christian husbands are called to lead our homes the way that Christ himself leads the church…talk about pressure, even more of a reason that we want to pray that our husbands will be “intoxicated with the Holy Spirit” too!
So, how can you change your marriage (as well as your whole life…) in just one step this Valentine’s Day? Commit yourself to each and every day spending enough time in the word, in prayer, and in praise that you become “intoxicated by the Holy Spirit” and watch how much it changes you!
I pray pray that no matter who you spend this February 14th with that you all remember that no matter the depth of the physical love, there is nothing on this earth that can compare to how Christ loves you!
Be blessed!
About a sweet guest
great post. thanks so much for sharing this. i love how well you explained it!
Thank you Sarah for sharing this post! I’m finishing up the Beth Moore study on fruit of the Spirit and I pray each day to be filled full. That is truly how we can all be in NEW marriages because we ourselves are made NEW.
Great post Sarah! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the support ladies! I’m glad that you enjoyed the post and pray that the Lord would continue to strengthen all your relationships, Marriages and otherwise! Thanks for letting me come and visit! God Bless.