Looking For Right Interpretation

My friend Pastor Manya Abraham posted this. My answer is below.

Ephesians 5:22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands, as to the Lord;

Ephesians 5:23 for the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and He is the savior of the body.

Ephesians 5:24 Therefore as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it,

I have heard people and I always listen to the end when people are teaching this verse. However, their interpretation is mostly affected by their culture, gender and personal experience. I am still looking for someone to explain this verse in a Christian way, for Christianity is a culture on its own which I believe none in the body has fully embraced it. Many in the west believes their culture is Christian culture but it is not. The same is true with the Jews. Christian culture is the culture of Jesus Christ not western culture or Jewish culture. African culture is considered backward culture but not everything is backward. But it still is not Christian culture.  Let’s interpret the above verse without influence of your culture, gender or personal experience…here it is again.

Ephesians 5:22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands, as to the Lord; Ephesians 5:23 for the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the savior of the body. Ephesians 5:24 Therefore as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it,

I love the question, and thought you might be interested in my answer:

My wife Paula and I have been married over 48 years. It is wonderful! We both love God and we both love each other. We both try to show that love in every way we can. Neither demands anything, both offer everything. As soon as either person in a marriage starts thinking about their own rights instead of the other’s needs, they mess it up. As soon as one starts measuring what they get or give instead of receiving with gratitude and giving without measure they mess it up. Love and submission are both self-sacrificing. I noticed, you left off the topic sentence of the paragraph! Paul introduces the subject of Christian households by saying, “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Ephesians 5:21.) Submit to one another! Husband and wife are both to submit to each other. Each couple will gradually, prayerfully and often with some rough patches, work out exactly how that works best for them. The attitude of love and self-sacrifice will be the same in all good marriages, but the details of what that looks like will be different in every good marriage. Let God lead! Let love lead!

David Wentz has pastored for over 40 years. He holds a B.S. in Systems Engineering, two MDiv degrees, and a Doctor of Ministry from Asbury Theological Seminary. He is married to his college sweetheart, Paula. They have five children who are actively serving God in the US and around the world. He is the author of Pastoring: The Nuts And Bolts. You can connect with David on his twitter, Facebook, and Doing Christianity Nonprofit.