Ron Dunn Podcast - The Family - Husband and Wife

Episode Date: July 17, 2024

The greatest area of blessing and personal revival God has given us is in the home.

The book of Ephesians, chapter 5. There are many surprises to the Christian when he discovers that the Bible is true and that Jesus works for him today, and that when he enters into the context of letting Jesus Christ be Lord and letting the Holy Spirit who indwells him fill him and control him, I say it is a life of surprises in that we are constantly surprised what Jesus is able to do in our lives. And it just keeps on getting better. And there's never any end to the

freshness and the newness of Jesus and of what Jesus wants to do in our lives. And I want to talk to you tonight for a few moments about what I consider to be probably the greatest area of blessing and the greatest point of revival that God has brought in my own life I do not want to speak to you tonight nor have I tried to speak to you any night this week about anything that I have not known experientially. And what I'm trying to share with you in these services together are things that I have not only learned from the Word of God, but that God has allowed me to experience. And I want to share with you tonight what I consider to be possibly the greatest area of blessing and the greatest point of personal revival that God has blessed us with.

And that is in the area of the home. Now God has been gracious to give personal revival and God has been gracious to give church revival. But the greatest revival of all in my own life took place in the home. And I believe really that's where it ought to be. Because it really makes very little difference what kind of personal revival we have or what kind of revival we have in our church. If it is not a revival in the home, then it is not true and lasting revival. Because you see, what you are at home is what you are. I find it very easy to

live a public life, and to live a public life that is decent and respectable. It's easy for me to come to church and act pious and say pious things and spiritual things, and everybody says, oh my, how spiritual, how religious, what a good man he is. But that's really not the test. It's not your public life that is the test of your Christianity, but rather it is your private life. And what you are at home is what you are. And honestly, many of us aren't very much at home when it comes to spiritual things.

Because you see, a Christian home is not a home in which the members are Christians. That does not constitute a Christian home. Because there are a great many Christians whose homes are, instead of being heaven on earth, they're simply hell on earth. And every day there are Christians whose homes are breaking up. Practically not a month goes by but that I don't hear of some former friend of mine, former seminary colleague, a pastor, evangelist somewhere whose home has not broken up

and is in the midst of a divorce. Now they were Christian people. Some of these people had been greatly used of God. What was wrong? I thought if you were a Christian you just automatically had a Christian home. Not necessarily. A great many Christians do not have Christian homes. And one reason that our young people are growing up to despise the faith of their moms and dads

is because they have a Christian mother and dad at church, but they have a heathen mom and dad at home. They don't see Christianity working where it really counts. Anybody knows Christianity is going to work within the four walls of a church. We're all going to testify here. We're all going to pray here. We're all going to smile here. We're all going to treat each other decently here. This isn't really where it counts.

And if Christianity doesn't really exhibit itself where life is really lived, then it's worthless. And our young people are growing up and seeing that mom and dad's religion that they talk about and preach about really doesn't make any difference at all in their home life. And so they're growing up to despise the faith of their fathers and the faith of their mothers. And I am convinced that the greatest need today in Southern Baptist Convention is a revival in the home life. I think we've gone at it exactly backwards. We've been trying to build churches when we ought to be building homes. And if the home is built, and if the home is strengthened, and if the home is spiritual,

the church will be blessed by it because your church is not going to be any stronger and any more spiritual than your families. And we have been trying to build spiritual churches out of unspiritual families. And I think that God wants us to get a family focus. The Bible said that God would send a prophet among the people to do what? To turn the fathers towards the sons and the sons towards the father. And I think that's the kind of prophet we need today. I believe that's the kind of revival we need today. It's a revival in the home.

You see, sex may be doing what comes naturally, but marriage isn't. And if a person just sets out to do what comes naturally in his married life, then there are going to be problems. Someone says marriage creates problems. I don't believe that. Marriage doesn't create problems. Marriage simply exposes problems that were never resolved. And every married couple has personality conflicts and clashes. Do you know what a personality conflict is? It's my self-life irritating your self-life. That's what a personality conflict is. It's my ego irritating your ego. It's my self-life rubbing your self-life the wrong way, and you react against it.

Now, I discovered, and my wife discovered, and I'm glad she's here tonight. I wouldn't really want to preach this if she wasn't here. But we discovered that when Jesus Christ moves in to a person's life and becomes Lord of their life, and the Holy Spirit fills them, that that's only the beginning. And that what he really wants to do

is to come and bring about a spiritual revolution in that home. And I want to share with you tonight some things that we discovered out of the Word of God that made our home, I believe, more of what God wants it to be. And I do not pretend tonight to say that every problem in our home is non-existent and that we just have a perfect family. We do not.

But I want you to know that as a husband and wife and as a family, we are happier and God has blessed us tonight more than ever before in our married life. And we always had a good marriage, just like we always had a good church. But there's a difference when Jesus Christ moves into it and brings to that family what only he can bring. So I want us to begin reading tonight in Ephesians chapter 5. And you know, most of you, I'm sure, have heard a message on the home. I've preached messages on the home before. And you know where we always begin? We always begin with verse 22, where he says, Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord.

And to the dismay and the chagrin of every wife, that's where we always start. Poor wives. They always get it first. That's where we always start. Poor wives. They always get it first. That's where we always start, and we start out by saying, wives, you're supposed to submit yourselves to your husbands. Now you do it. And really, as Jack Taylor, my good friend, pointed out, a startling revelation is that verse 21 comes before verse 22.

Now isn't that a profound statement? Verse 21 comes before verse 22, and I don't care how many times you read chapter 5, it'll always be that way. Verse 21 will always come before verse 22. As a matter of fact, verse 18 comes before verse 21. Last night, I talked to you about being filled with the Spirit. Now, I want you to look at verse 18.

He says, Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, Last night I talked to you about being filled with the Spirit. Now I want you to look at verse 18. He says, Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. Now look at verse 19, 20, and 21, and you'll notice that each verse in the King James Version begins with a participle, with an ing word. Those next three verses give to us the result of being filled with the Spirit. Verse 18, he says, be filled with the Spirit. And when you're filled with the Spirit, he says in verse 19, you will be speaking to one another in psalms and hymns. In verse 20, you will be giving thanks always for all things.

And in verse 21, you will be submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. And then that leads him into that great chapter concerning husband and wife relationships and parents and children relationships. But I want you to notice that it is all a result of the spirit-filled life. Now, what I'm going to be talking to you about tonight, I do not believe that you can experience in your own life and your own home until first of all you come to enthrone Jesus as Lord and by faith appropriate the filling of the Spirit. We have overlooked the fact that all of this is presented as a result of being filled with the Spirit.

And one of the evidences or results of being filled with the Spirit is mutual submission. Mutual submission. Look at verse 21. Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. A Spirit-filled home, a Christian home, begins with mutual submission. Now, it's important that you understand this tonight because everything else that Paul is going to say about our family relationships, everything is based upon verse 21, upon mutual submission. So, I want to talk to you first of all about the meaning of mutual submission. We must understand what he's talking about

or we'll never be able to have the Christian home God intends us to have. He says submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Now what does this mean? The word submission is a military word that has to do with one inferior officer's relationship to a superior officer. It has to do with rank, and it says to place yourself under each other. Now he's writing to Christians. He's writing to the church at Ephesus, and he says when you're filled with the Spirit, one of the first things you'll do is you will place yourself under each other spiritually.

You will submit yourselves to each other spiritually. That leads me to say this, that I discovered that in the context of the home, spiritual relationship comes before physical relationship. A Christian home depends upon, first of all, spiritual relationship. A Christian home depends upon, first of all, spiritual relationship. Our spiritual relationship between husband and wife and son and daughter is more important than physical relationship. Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew chapter 12. One day somebody came to him and they said, Behold, thy mother and thy brother stand without desiring to speak with thee. Now look at verse 49, Matthew chapter 12. Now verse 50, For whosoever shall do the will of my Father

which is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister and mother. You know what Jesus is saying? He's saying spirit is thicker than blood. Spiritual relationship is more important than physical relationship. When Jesus died, was dying on the cross, he attended the business. And standing at the foot of the cross was John, his disciple, and his mother Mary. And Jesus looked at his mother, and he looked at John, and he said, Woman, behold thy son. And he said to John, Behold thy mother. You know what he was doing? Jesus was the elder son in that family. And when the elder son died, when the father had died, and evidently Joseph has died, it is the son's responsibility to care for his mother. And so now that Jesus is going to be dead and will no longer be able to

watch over his mother, he must place his mother under the care of someone else. Now, the strange thing is that Jesus had other half-brothers. Mary had other sons. Why didn't Jesus say to one of the other sons of Mary, all right, now you take your mother home and you care for her. He didn't. He turned to a disciple and he said, woman, from this day forth, he will be your son and son from this day forth, she will be your mother. Why why because at that time the rest of Mary's sons were unbelievers in Jesus they all thought he was crazy and what Jesus was saying on the cross is I had rather have my mother cared for by a spiritual stranger than a physical unbeliever than a family unbeliever that's's exactly what he was saying. Jesus says, spiritual relationship

comes before physical relationship. Now, no husband and wife can be the partner they ought to be until, first of all, they're the person they ought to be. Because, you see, it's the person that makes the partner. Now, what does it mean,

mutual submission? All right, here's the meaning of it. Mutual submission means that each one of us gives up our personal rights. Each one of us gives up our personal rights. The wife gives up all her personal rights. The husband gives up all his personal rights.

You see why this is a necessary consequence of being filled with the Spirit? Because when you are filled with the Spirit, because when you are filled with the Spirit, you have to first of all give up all your personal rights to the Lordship of Jesus. This is why it is possible only within that context for a husband and a wife to have the Spirit-filled home that Paul is talking about. The foundation of your Christian home tonight is mutual submission. And husband, that means you must be willing to give up all your personal rights. And wife, that means you have to be willing to give up all your personal rights.

Mutual submission. All right, let's look secondly at the motive of mutual submission. I hear some husbands say, Preacher, if you knew my wife, you wouldn't tell me to give up my personal rights as far as she's concerned. I hear some wives say, Preacher, if you knew my husband, why, if I were to give up my personal rights, if I were to submit myself to him, do you know what a rascal he is? Do you know how he treats me? Why, you can't expect to me, you can't expect me to give up my personal rights in favor of his rights, in favor of his wishes. And you know, every time we talk about the home in relationships like this, this is always the basis upon which we make that decision. We look at our wife or we look at our husband,

and if they are worthy of our giving up our personal rights, we say, okay. But who of us is worthy of that? Very few, if any of us. And so most of us go along, our self-life irritating the self-life of the other. But what is the motive of this giving up our personal rights? Look at that 21st verse.

Paul says, submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. There's the motive. Williams translates that properly this way. Submitting yourselves one to another out of reverence for Christ. Out of reverence for Christ. Did you know something, wife? The worthiness of your husband doesn't have anything to do with your submission to him. Husband, did you know that the worthiness of your wife doesn't have a thing to do with your giving up your personal rights to her?

The Bible says you do it out of reverence for Jesus. And when God asks us to do something for somebody else, he does not ask us to do that for that person because that person deserves it. That person may be the most undeserving person you've ever met. That doesn't have a thing to do with it. He says you do it out of reverence for Jesus. The motive is I revere Jesus Christ. And so, Lord, I can't do it for their sake because they don't deserve it and they've mistreated me. But Lord, you've asked me to do it. And so I will do it out of reverence for you.

And if you'll study the word of God, you'll find that same thing recurring over and over again. You remember when King Saul was chasing David and trying to kill him? David was fleeing from him. Now, the Bible says that God had already rejected Saul, and God had already anointed David to be king, but he didn't do it. And his companion said, David, you could have been justified in killing Saul. You're the king. He's trying to kill you. Why didn't you kill him? David said, He is the Lord's anointed. He is the Lord's anointed. He is the Lord's anointed. And David played a little trick on him just to let him know he was close at hand.

And after that, David was sorry he had done it because it was being disrespectful to another person. Let me read you another verse that to me is very surprising. Over in Acts chapter 23, you listen as I read it. Paul has been brought before the council because he's been preaching and the Jews have brought him before the council. Now listen to Acts 23, verse 2. And the high priest Ananias commended them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth.

Then said Paul unto him, Ananias, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall. Just insult him. Verse 4. And they that stood by said, God shall smite thee thou whited wall just insult it verse 4 and they that stood by said revileth thou God high priest then said Paul I knew not brethren that he was the high priest

for it is written thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people do you see that the high priest was godless. He was undeserving of Paul's yielding his personal rights. The high priest said, you slapped that fellow. And Paul looked at him and said, you whited sepulcher. And they said, hey, he's the high priest. And Paul apologized. Why? Because Paul was being respectful. Paul was giving up his personal rights to the high priest, not because the high priest deserved it, but out of reverence for Christ.

You see, when the Bible tells us to do this, it's not telling us to respect the person or yield to the person, but it's to the position. I know some teenagers that have a hard time. They don't want to be obedient to their parents. They say, my parents don't deserve it. My parents aren't Christians. That doesn't make any difference. Your parents may not deserve your obedience. They may not deserve your honor. You may not be able to respect their person, but God expects you to respect their position as your parents. And you

are to submit to them, children, and you are to be obedient to them, even when they're wrong, out of reverence for Jesus Christ. That's the motive. That's the motive. Now, if we had to submit to each other out of the motive of your worthiness or my worthiness, we could never do it. But is there anybody here tonight that doesn't think Jesus Christ deserves our obedience? Is there anybody here tonight that thinks that Jesus Christ does not have a right to demand I give up my personal rights? All right, let's move on now to the third

and last point. The manner of mutual submission. How is this to be worked out? We're going to talk now for a few moments about what the wife owes the husband and what the husband owes the wife. And wives, I'm sorry that it starts with you, but that's where God starts. Don't complain to me, you complain to God. God starts with the husband. And husband, don't you sit there and nudge your wife because he speaks to you the next time. We're going to talk about briefly what the wife owes the husband and then what the husband owes the wife. All right, what does the wife owe the husband? Let's read verse 22. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and he

is the Savior of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in a few things. In everything. Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands as unto the Lord. You can sum it up in one word or in two words. What the wife owes her husband is unselfish submission. Unselfish submission. And it's the same Greek word found in verse 21.

It refers to inferior rank to superior rank. Now, I didn't say person. Don't anybody leave saying that the preacher said a woman is inferior to men. Not at all. As far as God is concerned,

they're equal. This is the end of side one. As far as God is concerned they're equal this is the end of side one as far as God is concerned they're equal as far as I'm concerned they're equal this does not refer to person it refers to position there is a foundation truth in the word of God that you really need to understand and is this, that all authority is in God. And God has delegated his authority to certain people. John 19, 11, when Jesus was standing before Pilate, Pilate said, don't you know I have the power of life and death over you?

And Jesus said, you have no power but that which is given you of God. Did you know that God gave to Pilate the power and the authority to crucify Jesus? He did. Romans 13, verses 1 and following says, there is no power but the power of God, and every power of man is really the power of God. You see, there is up here the authority of God. All authority is in Jesus Christ. And he has delegated authority to certain people. And all of us tonight are to submit to those who have the authority over us. In the schoolroom, the teacher is a delegated authority of God. And if you resist your teacher, you are resisting God. Read Romans 13. The government is the delegated authority of God over the citizens. And I am supposed to submit myself

to the authority of the government. Romans 13 says that if I resist the authority of the government, I am resisting God. And the husband has been placed in authority over the home, and the wife is to be submissive to the husband, and if she resists the delegated authority of her husband, she is resisting the power and the authority of God. The child is placed under the delegated authority of the parents, and if they resist the delegated authority of their parents, they are resisting the authority and the power of God.

That is one of the fundamental principles of the Word of God, delegated authority. And all of us are under some authority tonight, and we are to be submissive to it. And the wife is supposed to be submissive to her husband. Now, I know that a lot of wives think that submission is something that went out when Virginia Slim came in, but as far as God is concerned, there is still the principle

of mutual submission. Now, this is to be a voluntary submission. He says, wives, submit yourselves, and that's in the middle voice, and it means that the wife is to voluntarily submit herself to the husband. She is not to be forced by a demanding husband to submit herself to her husband. You say, Preacher, are you saying tonight that the wife has no say-so, no voice, no opinion? Not at all. The wife has every right to voice her opinion, but the final decision rests with the husband, or you rebel against the authority of God.

He is the head, the Bible says, and the wife is to be submissive to the husband. Now this means two things. First of all, it means a response to his position. What is his position? He is the head. What is my response? I am to be submissive. God said to Eve and to Adam, thy husband shall thy desire be. And the wife is to submit herself, to place herself under her

husband in these decisions in the way of life. She is to be submissive. This is her Christian duty. This is what she owes to God and to her husband but somebody says well I have a lost husband what about that I'm glad you asked first Peter chapter 3 listen likewise you wives be in submission to your own husbands that if any obey not the word now he's talking about a lost man a lost husband that isn't saved, that doesn't obey the word. They also may without the word be won by the behavior of the wise. If a saved wife has a lost husband, is she supposed to be submissive to him? Yes, she is. Because again, you are not submitting to his person, you are submitting to his position.

And listen, I want to tell you something. Peter says, wives, when you are in subjection to your lost husbands, then they can be won through your life. Do you know the reason lost husbands sometimes are not saved when they have Christian wives? It's because their Christian wives are not submissive to them. And if a wife is willing to trust God and obey the Word of God and will submit herself to her husband even though he is lost and let him be the head of that home, then God can work through that wife's submissiveness to bring that husband to the Lord Jesus Christ. God is going to work through delegated authority. Even when your husband is wrong, wife,

God is going to work through him. The ultimate will of God will always be done through the husband even when the husband is wrong. You remember when Pilate had Jesus Christ before him and Pilate's wife came to him and she said Pilate don't you have anything to do with this matter because I had a dream about this man and in this dream I was warned that you ought not to have anything to do with it now the wife was right wasn't she

Pilate didn't listen to her he was wrong wasn't he but God worked out his ultimate will through pilot error and Jesus Christ was crucified as God intended him to be and the wife must submit to her husband if the purpose of God is going to be done in your life in your home it says in first Peter chapter 3 verse 5 for after this manner in the old, the holy women also who trusted in God adorned themselves being in subjection unto their own husbands, even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord. Now, I want you to see something.

They didn't trust in their husbands. They trusted in God. And they submitted themselves to their husbands. They could submit themselves to their husbands because they trusted in God. And they submitted themselves to their husbands. They could submit themselves to their husbands because they trusted in God. Do you know the reason a woman really can't submit herself to her husband? Why? She's afraid because she doesn't trust God. She doesn't trust God.

God is saying, wife, I want you to trust me. I don't care how bad it looks. I don't care what you think may happen. You trust me. I don't care how bad it looks. I don't care what you think may happen. You trust me. I told you that my will can be worked out through your submission. I told you that that lost husband can be saved through your submission. I told you that if you just submit yourself to your husband, I could take over and I could work things. You trust me, wife. And so the holy women of old, they trusted God and they subjected themselves to their husbands. If you trust God, just trust him, then you can do it.

I had a young wife come to me in my church and she said, Preacher, my husband's saved but he's not much on this going to church and Sunday is his only day off and he doesn't want me to come to church on Sunday night. What should I do? Now what would you tell a wife who asks you that question? She said, my husband doesn't mind coming to church on Sunday morning, but he doesn't want to come to church on Sunday night, and so he's asking me to stay home with him on Sunday night.

And what would you tell her? You know what I told her? I said, you stay home on Sunday night. You say, well, I thought God commanded us to go to church. God commanded us, God commanded women to be in submission to their husbands. And the Bible never puts the church above the home. Never does. I said, now, let me tell you something. Don't you just sit home with your husband and backslide, but you said to your husband, husband, call him by name, I'll tell you what, I'd rather go to church. I'd like to go to church, but I'd rather do what you want me to do. And I want to be the kind of wife that you, Jesus, wants me to be. And Jesus wants

me to be in submission to you. And so if you don't want me to go to church tonight, if you want me to stay here with you, I'm going to obey Jesus, and I'm going to be a good, I want to be the kind of wife God wants me to be to you, so I'm going to stay home with you. And I said, man, what a testimony that will be. She said, I'll do it. I'll try it. And you know, it wasn't long before that husband

was coming and walking down the aisle and getting right with God. Another young wife came to me. I shared this at a retreat. She came up after the service. She said, I've been doing it all wrong. She said, my husband doesn't want to come to church on Sunday, and he doesn't want me to come to church on Sunday. And I just, I said, well, you can be lost if you want to, and you can backslide if you want to, but I'm going to church and serve the Lord. She came to me not long ago after Sunday

morning service. Her face was just leaning. She said, it's working. It's working. I said, oh, you act surprised. She said, yes. She said, you know, on a certain date, my husband told me weeks and weeks and months ago that there was a doubleheader. Texas Rangers were playing a doubleheader and we were going to have to miss church Sunday morning and miss church Sunday night to go to that game. She said, I hate ballgames, but he loves them. And I just told him I wasn't going. I was going to church.

It was wrong. It was a sin to go to the ballgame instead of church on Sunday. And she said, after I discovered what God wanted me to do, she said, I told him that that's fine. That's fine. I want to go to the ballgame with you. That's what you want. I want to be the kind of wife Jesus wants me to be. And he tells me to be submissive to the husband. And on the day before the game, that Saturday before the Sunday, the game was to be played. She said, what time are we leaving tomorrow to go to the game? He said, oh, we're not going.

She said, well, you've already got tickets. I thought you wanted to go. He said, you don't like those ball games, and you'd be sitting out there in that hot sun all afternoon. We're not going. And she came up to me Sunday after church. She was just excited. She couldn't believe it, that it was working.

I could stand here tonight and give you example and personal testimony one right after another when a wife trusted God and said, Lord, my husband may not respond properly. He may not deserve it. It may mean sacrifice and suffering for me,

but I'm going to be obedient to you. And she submitted herself to her husband. She became the kind of wife that Jesus wanted her to become. God then began to work in that home.

That's the first thing, the first step to a Spirit-filled home, is the wife be in submission to her husband. Response to his position and reverence, respect for his position. All right, let's move on now and close by saying what the husband owes the wife. What does the husband owe the wife? All right, let's read in verse 25. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. Look at verse 28. For so ought men to love their wives as their own bodies.

He that loveth his wife really is loving himself. Husbands love your wives just like Jesus loved the church. And when you love your wife, you are really loving yourself. And so in two words, we sum up what the husband owes the wife. It is unselfish sacrifice. It is unselfish sacrifice. Now listen, that word love does not mean affection. Too many husbands think they're fulfilling their positions as a husband when they just are affectionate towards their wives. That is not what the word means. Now that word will lead to affection between a husband and a wife, but that's not what it means. That's the same word that is used in John 3, 16, for God so loved Agape, God so loved the world,

he gave away his son, that we might be saved. And you know, I never realized until a year or so ago what that really meant. Do you know what Jesus Christ did for the church? He took his life, and he gave his life away he had no longer

any life of his own he gave his life to the church and so now when he loves the church he's really loving himself you know what a husband is supposed to do and I think very few husbands ever realize this they're not to love their wives

affectionately only in this way they are to love their wives affectionately only in this way. They are to take their life, their very life, and give it away to their wife. So they no longer have any life of their own. This is why it says in verse 28 that when a husband loves his wife, he's really loving himself. He is to see, now listen, he is to see his wife as an extension of himself, of his own life. And he is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He is to take his life and give his life away. And what does this mean? Your life, your soul is composed of mind, will, and emotion. And when you love your wife, you love your wife with your mind,, will, and emotion. And when you love your wife,

you love your wife with your mind, your will, and your emotion. You love her with your mind. That means she's in your thoughts. That means she's in your thoughts. And you think of her. You love her with your will. You know what that means,

to love your wife with your will? That means that you take her into consideration and and you let her share in every decision, and you always consider her when there's a decision to be made. And you make that decision in the light of your consideration for her. But it also means to love the wife emotionally. You know what that means? Everything Jesus Christ did, he did for the welfare of the church. Nothing Jesus did, he did for himself. And a husband who loves his wife as himself will come to this place where everything he does, he does to make his wife happy. That ought to be the goal of every husband.

And if you love your wife as Christ loved the church, you love her with your mind, your will, and your emotions, you'll want to make her happy more than anything else. You will never do anything that you know will make her unhappy. You will give your life to this one goal, making your wife happy. That's what it means for a husband to love his wife as Christ loved the church. Husband, do you know tonight what would make your wife happy? I want you to think for just a minute. Are there some things that you know would make your wife happy? Some things, some attitudes that you've had that have made your wife unhappy? Are you willing tonight, husband, to join in mutual submission and give up your personal rights just as Jesus gave up his personal rights for the church? You see, the

Bible says in Philippians 2, 5, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, because he gave up all his personal rights for the church. Wife, are you willing tonight to give up all your personal rights and submit yourself to your husband? And husband, are you willing tonight to give up all your personal rights and to love your wife as Christ loved the church and make the goal of your life to make her happy?