“He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” (1 John 2:6). The Gospels are spilling over with verses like this one, verses that call us to imitate Christ in the way we live day-to-day. This is a call that is multi-layered and, if we follow it implicitly, it will have a radical effect on every aspect of our lives. Now, to my subject of discussion for today. You may be asking, what is the connection between imitating Christ and our God-given gender roles? That is the question I hope to answer in a small way for you today.

In Scripture, the role of husband as head of the house is modeled after Christ and His headship of the church. “For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,” (Eph. 5:23-25). If we dig deeper into the nature of Christ’s headship and how He cares for His bride, the church, we can find the roles of protector and provider.

Christ laid down His life on the cross to protect His people from the wrath of God, and He has provided down through the ages for His church’s physical and spiritual needs. In the Gospels His leadership is characterized by service and sacrificial love, and so should the leadership of the husband be in a Biblical marriage. The husband is given the responsibility of protecting, providing, and leading his family in a God-honoring direction. As Christ’s example shows, true leadership is not tyranny or belittling of those under His authority, and neither should they be characteristics of men in any situation or circumstance, inside or outside the home.

I hope that as I painted the picture of what Biblical roles are for men, it touched those of you women reading that have been hurt by the word, “submission” and made you think, I could submit to that kind of a man. Elisabeth Elliot sums it up succinctly in this quote from her book, Let Me Be a Woman, “The mature man acknowledges that he did not earn or deserve his place by superior intelligence, virtue, strength, or amiability. The mature woman acknowledges that submission is the will of God for her, and obedience to this will is no more a sign of weakness in her than it was in the Son of Man when He said, “Lo, I come – to do Thy will, O Lord.”” (Elliot, 130).

Throughout Scripture, the woman’s roles in the home are not simply decorative as some believe. She is given the responsibility of instructing the children, alongside her husband, and simply put, of being a helpmeet for her husband (Pro. 1:8, Gen. 2:18). The exact living out of that role is going to be different for every woman, but what is vital to remember is that you as a wife are not in competition with your husband. You are called to encourage and to help him as he seeks to lead you well, and only by humble reliance on God can you both fulfill your part of the beautiful picture that is marriage. There is so much more that could be said, but I will leave that to those who are better qualified and more experienced than myself. That is all for now and I hope all of you stay warm and safe the rest of this week!