At A Friend’s Wedding

Just attended a friend’s wedding.

She’s a very strong woman with a vibrant personality.
It was a traditional wedding held in an Anglican church. I was wondering how she would take that part in the scriptures that says that wives are to submit to their husbands.

Does submission equate to subservience?

Wedding Well Wishes. Friends and family write their well wishes for the weddiing couple on paper leaves.

As I entered the church, the receptionists guided me to a basket of paper leaves in the colours of fall. Each of us wrote a message for the wedding couple. Wishing them a wonderful marriage ahead with lots of babies on the way.

2 passages were chosen for the wedding.

• Ephesians 5:1-2, 21-33
• 1 Corinthians 13:1-7,13

I winced at the reading of the first, especially the part that goes : Wives submit to your husbands as to the Lord.

Isn’t that a recipe for abuse.

That verse is so often quoted by bullying men who insist that their wives obey their every whim and fancy. So upon marriage, the men gain a maid and someone who does his bidding.. who has to give whatever he asks for to her “master”.  My heart bled for her.

But that is not the way it was meant to be. Taken in its entirety, the men is to lead the wife, lead the family, the way Christ led, cared for and cleansed the church. Leadership in the Christian sense is about serving those you lead.

The husband makes all decisions in best interest of the wife. He feeds and cares for her, loves her.  For a woman to find such a man.. she’s got to be the luckiest woman alive. How many men actually fulfill that responsibility?

The wife in turn respects her husband.

It is all about respecting each other. Making decisions to the best interest of the other.
That is love.

Marriage is all about love.

But The Greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13 talks about what love really entails.

It isn’t all about fuzzy feelings from brain chemicals — you know the feeling of being in love.

Love is about patience. Kindness. Trust. That one passage sums it all.

That’s the blueprint of a great marriage.

The bride was as witty as ever. Her sparkling personality that we all love shone through.

She is embarking on a new journey that requires tremendous courage and trust. She’s a smart girl with a strong personality. She doesn’t dive into things without knowing what she’s getting herself into.

I believe she chose well and will have a wonderful, God-centered marriage.