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Devotion 2: Wives

Debbie Gabbara

“He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.” Proverbs 18:22

“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. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” Ephesians 5:22-25 (NIV)

When thinking about what it means to me to be a wife, my mind sometimes wanders back to when I was in the seventh grade. We were given an assignment to write about the career we hoped to have when we finished school. I remember it being very difficult for me to decide what would be the topic of my report. All I could think was that I wanted to be a wife and mom. I was so blessed to be surrounded by incredible ladies that were a great example to me of what a godly wife should look like. I have no recollection of what career I chose for that project, but I have loved being a wife and mother.

Marriage is not always easy; it takes work to have my husband feel that he has found a “good thing” as the verse in Proverbs says. We are both firstborns and spent most of our careers in management positions, giving direction to others. We can be bossy and regularly clash because we both know the “best” way to do something and are each confident that our method or opinion is the right one. I am often in pretty deep when I recall the verses from Ephesians and remember that I am called to submit to my husband as to the Lord.

Learning to submit has definitely taken work on my part. The closer I grow to the Lord, the better I understand submission. We see in Scripture that Christ constantly submitted to the will of the Father. Understanding submission to be an attitude of trust has helped me to have a greater love and respect for my husband.

Genesis chapter 2 tells us that man was not created to be alone so God made a woman, a helper for him. When we submit to our husbands, we submit to the Lord. God created wives to complete husbands. Their love for us grows when we respect them and trust them to lead us.

Proverbs 31:10 (CEV) says, “A truly good wife is the most precious treasure a man can find!”