Bible's Design for Husband and Wife Roles
What does the Bible actually teach about the roles of a husband and wife? Short answer. The Bible does not describe husband and wife as interchangeable parts. It describes two callings that answer each other. Ephesians 5:25 tells the husband to love his wife 'as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her', a love that costs him something every day. Ephesians 5:22 tells the wife to 'submit... as you do to the Lord', a trust modelled on the church's confidence in Christ, not blind obedience. Both are told, in the same breath, to 'submit to one another out of reverence for Christ' (Ephesians 5:21). Neither role is permission to rule or an invitation to disappear. Christians genuinely disagree on how far this goes, I'll be honest about that below, but the basic shape is sacrifice answered by trust. Before the roles, a design Genesis puts the creation of woman inside a sentence about the man's condition, not his need for staff. 'Then the L...