Today’s scripture: Ephesians 5:21-33 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (David Zier):
I know, this is one of those verses that people love to hate. This was a different time, a different culture. Order and hierarchy ruled the day, and having some sense of what a Christian Community meant at the time was important in the day when persecuting Christians was seen as a normal thing.
Let’s not forget what is said at the end in verse 33:
“However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”
This has the same meaning, to me, as when Jesus told the Pharisees that one of the greatest commandments was to love others as your self (Matthew 22). If we treated others in general, all of us, how we wanted to be treated, the world would be a different place.
Respecting each other seems so far away. The Internet allows people to be anonymous and say hurtful things. The world has its factions, and some of those factions decide what is best for everyone else and terrorize people who are different. Bullying in our schools and neighborhoods sounds much like the same thing. When people live in a culture very different than what we know, even if it is down the street or in a different neighborhood, we can poke fun at it or look at it with disdain.
I am not saying that people don’t respect others and their differences, because there are some that do. In general, is that the way the world works? Are good household rules those in which we are asked to respect each other, living the way Jesus asks of us, in our culture — in which considering everyone as equal is often seen as a bad thing? What a challenge as a way to live!
Thought for the day: How am I practicing good household rules in which mutual respect is a way of life?
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.