by Pastor Afolabi Oladele

You wives must submit to your husbands’ leadership in the same way you submit to the Lord. For a husband is in charge of his wife in the same way Christ is in charge of his body the Church. (He gave his very life to take care of it and be its Savior!) So you wives must willingly obey your husbands in everything, just as the Church obeys Christ.

And you husbands, show the same kind of love to your wives as Christ showed to the Church when he died for her, to make her holy and clean, washed by baptism and God’s Word; so that he could give her to himself as a glorious Church without a single spot or wrinkle or any other blemish, being holy and without a single fault. That is how husbands should treat their wives, loving them as parts of themselves. For since a man and his wife are now one, a man is really doing himself a favor and loving himself when he loves his wife! No one hates his own body but lovingly cares for it, just as Christ cares for his body the Church, of which we are parts.

(That the husband and wife are one body is proved by the Scripture, which says, “A man must leave his father and mother when he marries so that he can be perfectly joined to his wife, and the two shall be one.”) I know this is hard to understand, but it is an illustration of the way we are parts of the body of Christ. So again I say, a man must love his wife as a part of himself; and the wife must see to it that she deeply respects her husband—obeying, praising, and honoring him. Ephesians 5:22-33 TLB

Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do. “Honor your father and mother.” This is the first commandment with a promise: If you honor your father and mother, “things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord. Ephesians 6:1-4 NLT

Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting for those who belong to the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly. Children, always obey your parents, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not aggravate your children, or they will become discouraged. Colossians 3:18-21 NLT

The prospects of another lockdown arising from the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic should be of concern. This is because of the unique impact in homes and specifically for women and children. Beyond the economic induced stress, domestic violence and rape took their toll in many families. An extract from an April 2020 United Nations Report reads “Across every sphere, from health to the economy, security to social protection, the impacts of COVID-19 are exacerbated for women and girls simply by virtue of their sex”. The scriptures give some redeeming insights that understood and used in domestic relationships can reduce domestic violence in particular. Look deeply at these scriptures! Did you know that:

• A man is wired for respect? To ignore that construct goes against the grain and brings you against stiff resistance that in many cases end in violence;
• A woman is wired for love, verbalised as often as practicable? To ignore this makeup is to come against a brick wall; and
• It takes a home where the man and his wife are thus bonded to have an atmosphere where the children, male or female, can find proper expression of their peculiar challenges; take your counsel, saving them from predators (cult or sexual).

This is worth thinking about and putting into practice as we all have extended holiday family time. See the change you bring by yourselves without any external interference. Selah.

Photo by Sandy Millar on Unsplash