WORD
Read 5: 1-2. Paul has been looking at the themes of unity - of maturing in faith - of living as children of light - and here of imitating God and living a life of love just as Christ gave himself for us. This passage comes in a context. Paul urges his readers to live for one another, to be filled with the Spirit {5:18}.
Read what Paul has written in Galatians 3:26-29 and what he put in 1 Corinthians 7: 3-5. Christianity had raised the status of women way above surrounding cultures. There is no sense of inequality in these two passages.

1. Read 5:21.To whom does it refer? What does it mean to "submit"?
2. Who is given the more difficult task, wives in V 22 or husbands in V 25?
3. Are wives asked to do anything that husbands haven't been asked to do in V 21?
4. How does the church "submit to Christ" (v.24a)? Does Christ ever have anything in mind for the church that would be wrong for it or bad for it? So, why can the church confidently agree to submit to Christ in all things?
5. How does the relationship between Christ and the church model the role of husband and wife?
6. How did Jesus go about exerting his authority/headship? What can we learn from Jesus about submission?
7. So, if a Christian husband is thinking of his wife in the way that Christ thinks of the church, would there be a problem for a wife to submit to her husband?
8. If the husband isn't thinking of his wife in the way that Christ is thinking of the church does this mean the wife need not feel duty bound to submit?
9. Presumably, as Paul was writing into a society in which men assumed rights and women assumed duties, he has to explain to the men in some detail how they are to change in their attitudes {Verses 25-33}. Does the passing of time change the impact of this passage to you?