The role of a Christian wife.

In society today, there are two basic points that are out-there as to how a woman should act in life-- let us note them:  first there is the anti-woman feminist; and second, there is what is called the traditional wife role.  

The Anti-women feminist: this is a person who is adamant on what they class as equality of the sexes; and yet at the same time, they are so gung-ho for tearing down any woman who disagrees with their vision for various reasons. But this position gets worse when you include intersectional issue to the debate as it leads to the ultimate position of denying the existence and complete erasure of women as they can no longer define what one is (I spoke on this last week under the Gnosticism in Feminism). This position, however it is painted is at the detriment of all women-- sad really. 

The Traditional house wife:  while this is a noble thing and great to see as it seems to have a sort of biblical emphasis. It is my position that it still is not what the bible teaches as we shall soon see. for a starter, it seems to equate the idea of "traditional" with a particular time period where woman dressed in a certain fashion (which was okay for the time)-- but not necessarily the issue that the scriptures has in view. I do not think the Christian or biblical position should be forced on unbelievers either. There is, however a lot to commend about this position.

The intent of this blog-post is not really to deal with these positions at all-- but rather present a third option which is the true biblical position.  And I hope that if any Christian sister reads this that it will be a blessing.

The Biblical Picture of a Wife

Now one of the key texts when dealing with this most important subject is the following one:  "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 Saviour. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything"  (Eph. 5:22-24) .Before we get to the main point-- let me head off an objection of sorts. The feminazi see the term "submit" and automatically think of subjugation. No, the point is a willing compliance based on the fact that the wife loves and obey her Lord. Look at the verse before this (vs.21) where we are told that we are to submit to one another out of reverence to the Lord.   

So the objection based on ignorance of what the bible teaches fades into oblivion. However, we still need to consider what this submission looks like in a practical sense. And for us to do this rightly we need to turn to Proverbs 31 as it is a New Covenant book given before the New Covenant was inaugurated by Christ. 

And such a wife is said to be a virtuous woman-- for above rubies (vs 10) and we are told that,

• She has regard for her husband. (vs 11-12; 23)

• She works for the betterment of her family (vs. 15; 26-28)  (let me note on this matter: she is her own boss; and not under another man's charge)

• She has a trade that is focused on others (vs. 13-14; 16-20)

• She lives ultimately for the prise of God (vs. 30-31)

This is not the depiction of a traditional wife who stays at home-- not that there is anything wrong with that if one does that-- it is a wondrous thing. But the Christian wife has something much more wondrous to off.  She is an all-round helpmate.  Just in the same manner Eve was a help-mate to Adam back at the beginning-- and until Sin entered in she did not over step her bounds. Let consider another New Testament witness:  "For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands." (1 Pet. 3:5) Do you see the trajectory in this statement? Because they "put their hope in God"  therefore they all "submitted to their own husbands. A wonderful thing that is neglected today because of the sinful pride that is manifest. 

There are three things that are important to note:

1. There is a higher calling and purpose for Christian wives.  And that is in a simple word to obey the Lord in every aspect of their daily lives. 

2. There is the fact of the unique complementarity that is to be evidenced. This is more in relation to the union between the Husband and wife.

3. There is an environment in which children can be reared up.  This is possibly the most important one in a practical fashion: children will take on board the things they see in their parents.  

Let us now consider this matter in light of something one writer has to say on the subject of the wives submission:  "That is the manner of submission. How would you submit to Christ? That’s how you submit to your husband because he is - in that union, that Christian marriage - as Christ to you. What about the motive for submission? The manner: “as to the Lord”; the motive is in the next verse: “For the husband is the head of the wife”; “for the husband is the head of the wife”. That’s simply the illustration from the human anatomy. The head controls the body, the body submits to the head, or you have uncontrollable behaviour."  And this is a brief consideration of what the bible teaches upon what a Christian wife is. She is one who does everything in relation to a bigger principle: submission to her husband and obedience to Christ.