Colossians 3:18-25

Colossians 3:18-25
¹⁸ Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

A wife is to submit as is fitting to the Lord.  A lord controls every aspect of you life.  You have no rights with a lord.  Our Lord Jesus Christ submitted to the Father.  That is your standard.

¹⁹ Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

 Why are men told to love their wives?  We won't do it without instruction.  We are men and used to being harsh in a harsh world.  Ephesians 5:25-32 has greater detail in how we are to treat our wives.  Christ is our standard too.  We're to love our wives as he loved the church.  His love will be the standard by which our love is measured.

²⁰ Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.

 As a child I learned this verse in the King James.  The last phrase in that translation said "for this is right".  I constantly tell my children when they complain about life at mom's that scripture does not say obey "when you 'think' they are right".  It's not about what you want to do or what you think you should do.  It's about obeying God and he says obey your parents.  There are no qualifier or loop holes.  

Reminder that if you parent demands you do something you know to be wrong such as stealing or immorality, I encourage you to tell someone what is going on.

²¹ Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.

Some dads think it is funny to frustrate their children.  I get frustrated when I see Jimmy Kimble encourage parents to lie to their kids and tape the sadness and frustration so that he and his audience can laugh.  As a dad your kids need you to be their rock here on Earth the points them to your ROCK in Jesus Christ.  Once trust is broken it can take years to rebuild.

²² Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. ²³ Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, ²⁴ since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. ²⁵ Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism.

Most of us are not slaves.  We just feel like it some times.  We do have employers and supervisors and leads and team members.  Don't just do your job when you are being seen.  Do it all the time for the glory of God.  He is always watching.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.