Lesson 11 of 13
The Wife's Service: Giving Respect Through Submission
The chapter presents a wife's submission as honoring her husband through practical help, insight, encouragement, prayer, and intimacy, reflecting the Church's service to Christ. The author emphasizes that a wife's words and conduct shape her children's understanding of their father and help build the family. Within this marriage picture, husband and wife serve one another in different ways, and their intimacy illustrates the Church's relationship with Jesus.
What you will learn
- Explain the chapter's definition of submission as respectful help and service.
- Describe the author's parallels between wife and husband and Church and Christ.
- Identify ways the chapter connects respectful speech, family life, and mutual service.
Key concepts
Submission as Active Help
The author defines submission as honoring a husband by contributing abilities, insight, and support that help accomplish the family's plan and vision. He describes the wife as an integral helpmate who encourages, prays, and contributes emotional, physical, and spiritual connection.
Marriage and the Church
The chapter presents earthly marriage as a shadow of the relationship between Jesus and the Church. The author compares the Church's work of raising disciples who love Jesus with a wife's role in raising children who love and respect their father.
Respectful Words Build
The author urges wives to guard their view of their husbands and speak truthfully about their contributions, both privately and publicly. He connects these affirmations with encouraging the husband and helping children recognize their father's value.
Insight Under God's Guidance
The chapter describes a wife's intuition as valuable for family life while warning against treating it as a substitute for the Holy Spirit. The author encourages prayer and cooperation, distinguishing insight about a husband from knowing God's direction for him.
Intimacy and Mutual Service
The author describes both spouses as sacrificing in service to one another and presents marriage as an intimate rather than transactional relationship. He uses marital intimacy as an illustration of the Church's ongoing spiritual intimacy with Christ.
Scriptures in this chapter
Chapter review
Answer 4 of 5 correctly to earn the badge
1. How does the chapter initially define a wife's submission?
2. What parallel does the author draw between the Church and the wife in raising a family?
3. According to the chapter, why should a wife guard her heart concerning her husband?
4. What caution does the author give about a wife's intuition?
5. How does the chapter distinguish an intimate marriage from a transactional relationship?
Reflect and apply
- How does the author's definition of submission as active help compare with your previous understanding, and which examples from the chapter clarify that difference?
- Which concrete contributions of a spouse does the chapter encourage readers to remember, and how could truthful appreciation of those contributions shape family communication?