NASHVILLE (BP) — This weekly Bible study appears in Baptist Press in a partnership with LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. Through its Leadership and Adult Publishing team, LifeWay publishes Sunday School curricula and additional resources for all age groups.
This week’s Bible study is adapted from the Bible Studies For Life curriculum.
Bible Passages: Ephesians 5:23-28; 6:1-3
Discussion Questions: When have you said to yourself, “It’s good to be home”? How do these verses compare and contrast with the husbands we see today in movies and TV? Who’s been a positive role model for biblical sacrifice and submission in your life?
Food for thought:
Home. For most people, that single word can generate a good feeling. We feel the warmth of comfort, security, even longing. After all, “there’s no place like home.” No matter where we live or in what season of life we currently find ourselves, home is that place where we can “let our hair down” and be, well, at home. When we’re at home we reveal who we really are and demonstrate what really matters to us. We might be able to pretend to be a Christian at church, but it is impossible to fake it at home.
Home is the place where the people we love the most have a front row seat to our lives. Whatever your family looks like at this stage of life, Jesus wants you to be the best member of your family that you can possibly be. He has not left you alone to figure out what that looks like. The Christian’s identity is in Christ, and that identity is seen in a home environment of Christ-centered love, submission and obedience.
The Point: Home is where our identity in Christ is clearly lived out.
When a husband loves his wife as Christ loves the church, he models submission. Husbands are to submit to Christ, and wives are to submit to their husbands. Husbands cannot lead their wives to a Christ-honoring behavior they are unwilling to do themselves. As I submit to Christ, my wife trusts me. By leading out in submission, I encourage her submission. The love and submission Paul notes in verses 22-28 not only benefit the couple; they influence others who see their relationship and actions. No one is more impacted than their children. After all, children don’t just learn to do what parents say; they learn by example, by what their parents do.
Bible Studies for Life
Bible Studies for Life connects the Bible to life for adults, students and kids. Bible Studies for Life helps individuals and groups know God’s Word through trustworthy content, creates biblical community through engaging and conversational group studies, and helps people engage the culture missionally by unpacking what the Bible says about real-life issues. More information can be found on the Internet at LifeWay.com/BibleStudiesforLife.
Other ongoing Bible study options for all ages offered by LifeWay can be found at LifeWay.com/SundaySchool.
