Training: Modeling God’s way of facing life’s issues. (Luke 6:40)
Are you married? What does your marriage look like to others? What would others say about your marriage? Did you know that others can see an example of Christ in your marriage? That can be a little nerve-racking but also an opportunity to “train” others on what a healthy marriage looks like. A big responsibility.
If you have children, they are learning more from what they see than what you try to teach. They see how mom and dad interact as husband and wife. They experience personally what a parent/child relationship looks and feels like. Your relationship examples with your spouse and with your children are training your children for life’s key relationships. How would you rate your examples, so far? How would they rate them?
“For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:23-25).
The word “submit” is often a dirty word to wives, but really it is a beautiful picture of how Christ loves the church. Christ was a servant-leader. He did not lord over his loved ones- though He is Lord. He is a perfect example of what husbands should be for their wives. His love for others and for you also is the model for loving our children.
Christ’s love for the church is sacrificial, pure and unconditional, and that is how a husband should love his wife, even giving his life for her. (Ditto – our children) The Church looks to follow Christ and surrender its own will so that it can follow the will of Jesus, which is how a wife should find her place in relation to her husband. Their union, when modeled after Christ and the Church, will be healthy and whole, and serve as a solid foundation for a loving family.
As a married couple or as a believer, in general, we have a unique opportunity to train others by our example. Just as children learn more by what is exemplified, others see how we live and the love we show. They may then ask questions, giving us the opportunity to share Christ.
It is biblical, friends!
John 13:35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”