Introduction:
1. Your
2. You
3. You
4. You honor Him in every
v18-4:1
God established
Romans 13:1 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities.
Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them.
Ephesians 5:24 But as the church is subject to Christ.
1 Peter 5:5 You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders.
Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
Ephesians 6:5 Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh.
Ephesians 5:22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
God values and cares for the “
Galatians 3:28 There is neither slave nor freeman, neither male nor female, for all are one in Christ Jesus.
Psalm 68:5 A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, Is God in His holy habitation.
God’s
The
My biggest, ongoing problem as a [husband/father/employee] is not my [wife/children/boss], it’s me. They don’t cause me to do and say what I do and say. No, the cause of my actions is found inside my own heart. They are simply the occasion where my heart reveals itself in words and actions. So I need much more than just rescue and relief from them; I need rescue from me. —Paul Tripp
In your marriage:
• Wives—willingly
Titus 2:5 encourage the young women to….be subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.
1 Peter 3:1 Wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives.
Ephesians 5:22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
• Husbands—selflessly
Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her.
Ephesians 5:28-30 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 because we are members of His body.
Remember still that you are both diseased persons, full of infirmities; and therefore expect the fruit of those infirmities in each other…If you could not bear this, you should not have married her; if you resolved that you could bear it then, you are obliged to bear it now. Resolve therefore to bear with one another; as remembering that you took one another as sinful, frail, imperfect persons, not as angels, or as blameless and perfect. —Richard Baxter
In your parenting:
• Children—eagerly
Reasons to obey:
1. God commands it
Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
2. It is natural
1 John 2:3-4 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
3. It brings blessing
Ephesians 6:2-3 Honor your father and mother (which is the Birst commandment with a promise), so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.
4. It makes God happy
Colossians 3:20 Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord.
5. it makes you like Jesus
Luke 2:51-52 And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and He continued in subjection to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
6. it reminds you that life is not about you
Colossians 1:18 that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.
• Fathers—do not needlessly
I pull out my ammunition—my superior size, my position of authority—and I yell or intimidate or threaten or punish. And I win. I stand there, victorious, in the middle of the debris of a shattered relationship while my children are outwardly submissive and inwardly rebellious, suppressing feelings that will come out later in uglier ways. —Stephen Covey
They lose heart when:
1. You are overbearing or harsh
2. You set unrealistic expectations
3. You are inconsistent in your discipline
4. You are a hypocrite
5. You play favorites
6. You compare them to others
In your work:
• Employees—heartily
Galatians 1:10 For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.
• Employers—fairly
Ephesians 6:9 And masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.