We are talking about the way wives are to submit.

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Luke 9:23 “And He was saying to them all, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.’ ”

You are the head of your own physical body. Each person is the head of their own physical body. This never changes. God has given you the freedom to choose the way you will go each day. He wants you to follow Him and love hIm with all your heart. He wants you to take up your cross and sacrifice your right to self-rule and submit to Jesus.

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Ephesians 5:23-24 “For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives [ought to be] to their husbands in everything.”

The husband is the head of the marriage. The word “head” does not mean head of the household. It means the actual head of a body. Which body is Paul talking about? He is talking about the marriage body. Paul refers to them as husband and wife. Those titles are given in a marriage, and marriage is described as one body. We don’t physically become one body. That’s silly. The two people are joined by a covenant or promise of marriage.

When the wife agrees to join into a marriage covenant, she agrees that the husband is responsible for the marriage before God. What does that mean? God puts the burden of responsibility for the health and direction of the marriage on the husband. Husbands and wives are each to work together as part of the marriage, but ultimately the man is responsible for the marriage before God.

Husbands are to be responsible for the marriage, but Jesus is responsible for the men and women of His church. The husband is responsible for the marriage with this condition. Jesus is to be the head over each husband and wife, in the same way that Jesus is head over the men and women of His church. This is the priority in marriage, that husbands and wives would submit to Jesus first, then submit to the marriage.

Jesus is the savior of men and women. The husband is responsible for the marriage, but Jesus is responsible for the husband and wife because He is the one who saves us from sin.

Wives submit to Jesus first, then serve their husbands the way Jesus tells them. Wives are not to submit to husbands in everything unconditionally. There is a condition. Women and men are to submit to Jesus first! There is only one master and He is Jesus. Jesus as Master will direct the wife how she should serve her husband. In everything she should evaluate how to submit to Jesus and serve her husband. Should the husband overrule Jesus? No.

Prayer coaching: “Jesus, I willfully sacrifice my right to self-rule today and submit to You. Let Your will be done in my life today. Jesus, I agree that my husband is responsible for the marriage. I submit first to You, Jesus. Help me to serve my husband in the way you tell me. Jesus, direct me and show me in everything how to serve my husband, and help me to obey You first.”