Finally, there will be some for whom these words seem too late. In your case, love has died, and there seems to be nothing that will rescue your marriage from that void. If it were not for what your friends would think of you, you would proceed with a divorce. What should you do? You must yield to the Lord Jesus Christ and let Him rekindle a love that has grown cold or a living love that has died.
Now the most important thing that the husband is commanded in the Bible is to be the spiritual head of his home. Since that involves the children as well as the wife, I propose to treat it more broadly in that context. What does the Bible say to children?
Now, of course, all of this is only one side of the relationship, as you will see. For if God sets a high standard before the woman He sets an even higher standard before the man. The wife is to love her husband and submit to him as she loves Christ and submits to Christ. But the husband is to love his wife as Christ loved us and gave Himself for us.
What does it mean that the wife is to submit herself to her husband as under the Lord? Well, it certainly does not mean that she is submitting to a form of slavery or tyranny. For we are not called to a form of slavery or tyranny by Christ. It does not mean a type of blind obedience either, for a wife is not a chattel. Neither does it mean that the submission itself is always entirely one-sided, for the verse immediately before this says that we are to submit ourselves "one to another in the fear of the Lord" (v. 21). Actually, the verse means that the wife was created primarily as a helpmeet for the man. Thus, in a very real way she is to subordinate her interests to his.
One of the most important things that can be said about a Christian marriage is that within the relationship God has established an organic union between two persons—an organic union, not an organization. But when that is said, it must also be said that marriage does have organizational aspects. Hence, we must give attention to these also. How is a marriage to function after the wedding vows are taken? Is it to be a democracy? Is it to be a dictatorial system? A monarchy? Or is it a republican form of government? And what are the duties of the husband, wife, and children to each other and to the Lord?
