Today's Passage - Col 3:18

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Colossians 3:18   Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.   The reason God has given us this rule is because He wants to challenge the perspective weaknesses in the natures of men and women.  Men are born to be submissive, think everything is straight-forward terms and follow commands with action; that's why men are more suitable to be soldiers.  Women, on the other hand, are by nature more inquisitive.  In the Garden of Eden, when God said they cannot eat the fruits on the tree of good and evil, the man obey and didn't touch it, but the woman asked "it looks beautiful and delicious, why can't we eat it?"  After the woman ate it, she asked the man to eat it too.  He obeyed her and ate it.  It is evident that men by nature can easily obey, but it's difficult for men to love wholeheartedly!  It is natural for women to love with all her heart, and hold on to the valuable things in life wholeheartedly.   Once you understand this, you won't complain about the unfairness of biblical teaching.  God is addressing the weakness of men by asking them to "love your wives," and He wanted to address women's weakness by asking them to "submit to your husbands."  The submissiveness that the Bible teaches is not a blind obedience; it's one that is based on God and it is reasonable.  Submissiveness to the husband in the Lord is simply respect for the husband.  Whenever I do marriage counseling, I often hear sisters asking "how do I change my husband?"  The wives who always want to change their husbands tend to resort to nagging.  The truth is that nagging and complaining will never change the husband, and only respect from the wife for a husband can turn his heart around.  So how does a wife respect the husband?   First, try to encourage him more.  Many wives ignore their husbands when they perform well, just as if she's never seen it, but as soon as he makes a mistake she will point is out and ridicule him.  Actually, husbands are often waiting for praises from the wives, just like how wives are waiting for the praises from the husbands.  Therefore, wives must encourage the husbands more!   Second, don't compare him with others.  To a man, this can really hurt his dignity.  The responsibility of a wife is not to make your husband become what you like.  A truly supportive wife is one who sees what the husband can accomplish, but not just seeing what he cannot do.  Therefore, a wife must seek to understand the gifts and talents of her husband, encourage him to put them to use, and make him a personal that pleases God's will.  The wives among us, are you willing to do this today?         Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord Jesus, I ask that you pour down your love onto all the couples, because on the cross you have already torn down the walls between people.  I ask that you move among all the families so that the heart of the husband will turn to the wife, and wife's heart to the husband.  May your love melt down the biggest mountains in our hearts, so that we may enter into marriage relationships that belong to you.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!