Page 64 - Family Life Student Textbook

Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,
who have been called according to his purpose.”

Quiet means to have a heart of settled tranquility and deep peace.

Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be
exalted in the earth.”

Why is submission such a struggle? This struggle is a result of the curse of sin.

Genesis 3:16 “To the woman he said, ‘I will make your pains in
childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to
children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule
over you.”

I believe the last half of this verse means that, after the curse of sin, the wife’s
desire will be to rule over her husband, but he will rule over her. The
interpretation that now a wife will desire her husband sexually more than she
did before the fall is incorrect and untrue. Because the first phrase “Your desire
will be for your husband” is paralleled grammatically with the last phrase “and
he will rule over you”, they have to be talking about the same thing. This sentence is obviously talking about
ruling. Therefore, this sentence should be interpreted to mean “Your desire will be (to rule over) your
husband, but he will rule over you.” And notice that this sentence does not use the word “lead”. Instead it
uses the word “rule” which is not Biblical servant leadership. So, both the husband and wife are affected by
the curse of sin and now struggle to rule over the other. This is the source of every great conflict between a
husband and wife!

The only way to stop this conflict is for the husband to obey the commands involved in his role of
unconditionally loving his wife and being the servant leader to her, and the wife being the God-ordained
helper to her husband and respectfully submitting to his leadership.

Proverbs 14:1 “The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one
tears hers down.”

Being a Biblical wife requires a decision of your will, an attitude of entrusting yourself to God, and
supernatural empowerment by the Holy Spirit.

63