[Podcast] New Role for Husbands

As a “christian husband,” I have been given a new role to play in my marriage.  But am I playing that role effectively?  Do I even know what that role is?

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Subscribe in iTunes.  Lifegroup discussion questions below.   

If you are the Lifegroup discussion leader, read through these questions ahead of time, and pick the ones most appropriate for your group.  Have the members of your group open this page on their mobile devices to get to the cited verses.

On Sunday, Steve asked about your favorite “sitcom dads.” What are some of your favorites?  Why?

How do these TV dads model the role of husband for us?

What about your own dad?  How did he model the role of husband for us?  What did you learn from him?

Jesus wasn’t a husband, but he did clearly model leadership for us, didn’t he? How does Jesus’ lifestyle inform me as a husband?

Why is it important that I understand my role as a christian husband?

As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.”* 32 This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.  –Ephesians 5:31-32 NLT

The key truth that Steve hammers home every week during this series is that “marriage draws a picture of Christ and the church.” What does that mean? Why is my role important?

God uses this marriage metaphor throughout Scripture to describe His relationship with us. Take a look at the following verses to see how God views his relationship with us.

When that day comes,” says the Lord, “you will call me ‘my husband’ instead of ‘my master…’ I will make you my wife forever, showing you righteousness and justice, unfailing love and compassion. I will be faithful to you and make you mine, and you will finally know me as the Lord.  –Hosea 2:16, 19-20 NLT

What are the characteristics of “master?”

What are the characteristics of “husband?”

Then God will rejoice over you as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride.  –Isaiah 62:5b NLT

What is God showing us about himself in the marriage illustration?

So how does this inform my understanding of my role as a husband, as described in Ephesians?

For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.  –Ephesians 5:25-27 NLT

So, Christ’s love for the church makes her “holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.”  How does that relate to a husband’s love for his wife?  How do I carry this theme into my marriage?

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.  –2 Corinthians 5:17-20 ESV

Jesus’ purpose was to reconcile me to God. According to this passage, he makes us ambassadors for himself, carrying on his ministry into our lives.  What does this mean for our role as husbands?

What aspect of God’s character would you most like your marriage to reveal to the world?  How can you accomplish this?

Helpful tip!
If you haven’t already gotten your copy of “The Five Love Languages,” by Gary Chapman, we will still have those available at the church for two more weekends.  It is a GREAT book for learning to communicate love super-effectively to your spouse.  Do you know your spouse’s love language?  If you prefer the kindle version, you can get that right here.

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Special Announcement!

On Sunday, SO many people signed up to serve this summer!  We filled over 80% of our needs for VBS.  “Seamless Summer” is now 100% full!  But, we still need some help with giving our Children’s Ministry team “June off.”  All you have to do is pick an hour to serve. You can serve one hour and attend the worship service in the opposite hour!  We are opening online signups as soon as our office staff can get the form up and online.  Watch for it in the next day or so.