Monday, January 16, 2006

Meditation On Marriage

Marriage: The exclusive union of a man and woman
And the human said:

"This one at last, bone of my bones
and
flesh of my flesh,
This one shall be called Woman,

for from man was this one taken."


Therefore does a man leave his father and his mother and cling to his wife and they become one flesh. And the two of them were naked, the human and his woman, and they were not ashamed. (Genesis 2:23-25, Alter, emphasis supplied)
But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband. The husband should not deprive his wife of sexual intimacy, which is her right as a married woman, nor should the wife deprive her husband. The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband also gives authority over his body to his wife. So do not deprive each other of sexual relations. The only exception to this rule would be the agreement of both husband and wife to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time, so they can give themselves more completely to prayer. Afterward they should come together again so that Satan won't be able to tempt them because of their lack of self-control.
(1 Corinthians 7:2-5, New Living Translation, emphasis supplied)
Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Savior. Just as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be, in everything, to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, so as to present the church to himself in splendor, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind—yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish. In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they do their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hates his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, because we are members of his body.
(Ephesians 5:21-30, New Revised Standard Version, emphasis supplied)
May God teach us how to give ourselves to our spouse in love.

1 comment:

  1. Dave,

    It's sad that the term 'complementarian' has been hijacked by male chauvinists, because that really describes the biblical view of marriage, as the 3 passages you quote indicate.

    ReplyDelete