15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, ¹⁶ redeeming the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸ And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; ¹⁹ Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; ²⁰ Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; ²¹ Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. ²² Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. ²³ For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. ²⁴ Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. ²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; ²⁶ That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, ²⁷ That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. ²⁸ So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. ²⁹ For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: ³⁰ For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. ³¹ For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. ³² This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. ³³ Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

Peter took the submission commandment even one step further:

1 Peter 5:5-8: ⁵ Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. ⁶ Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: ⁷Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. ⁸ Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

This kind of marriage, the right kind, is hard work. It is not for everyone, said Christ in Matthew 19:10-11:

¹⁰ His disciples say unto him, "If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry." ¹¹ But he said unto them, "All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given."

    Marriage is given to men and women by God. Given a spouse by God, husbands are not to be chauvinistic barbarians or testosterone tornadoes. Remember, our example Christ was fully willing to lay down his life, to sacrifice himself for the church. He was willing to be humble, and to make the ultimate sacrifice for his beloved. He acted at all times to be worth of love, admiration and respect.

    Wives too are to be humble, loving, and grace-filled.  Husbands and wives ought at all times to truly be of the same or like quality in leadership, submissive, walking in love, with a true willingness to help one another. If this were true of Christian marriages today, there would be far more happy marriages and far fewer unhappy marriages in the body. If this were really true, there would be no divorce. But there’s the problem – far too few marriages are really this way. Why?

    In large part because men and women are too proud to submit. Too proud to forgive, and to proud to forget. Sometimes even too proud to ask for forgiveness from each other. Husbands and wives too often care only for what they want to care for, and careth not for what their mates care for. The devil, our adversary, full well knows and fully uses each of these sins. He literally devours Christians (and non-Christians alike) with these sins. Too many men and women have forgotten – or never learned – the holiness of their bonds of matrimony. So, as time goes on, their sons and daughters naturally don’t learn what they have never seen practiced in their homes, and were never taught.

    But make no mistake, a Christian marriage creates loving bonds – God’s covenant bonds! The Bible states that a husband is bound to his wife, and she is likewise bound to him in a mutual covenant relationship. The marriage oath states the they two are bound together emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Bound for better and bound for worse, bound both in plenty and in want, bound in sickness and bound in health, bound in joy and in sorrow, bound until "death do we part."

    On this Valentine’s Day weekend, rather than give a gift that will fade in moments, it is my prayer that you husbands and men will remember the holy and sacred lifetime bonds that you have made or will make with the love of your life, your soul mate. And wives and women, that you will humbly thank God always for giving you a God-fearing provider, a Christian father to your children, and a best friend. I pray that each of you – deep in your hearts – will remember always your vows one to another, and that what God has brought together, let no man or woman ever separate!