Colossians 3:18 — As Is Proper in the Lord

18 Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is proper in the Lord.

Here Paul continues directly from his appeal to do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus and to give thanks to God, the Father, through Him (verse 17). He then shows what this looks like in daily life. He begins with marriage. The wife is called to subject herself; the husband is called to love his wife. It is precisely because their assignments differ that they complement one another in the place God gives each of them.

That the wife subjects herself to her husband is “proper in the Lord.” In doing so, she acknowledges the place God has given her within marriage. Not because her husband is worth more or is always right, but because God has given him the place of taking the lead. Submission, therefore, is not an expression of inferiority, but of taking one’s place within God’s order.

A woman who subjects herself to her husband does so not first and foremost for him, but for the Lord. In this way, the appeal of verse 17 takes concrete form in her life. As a thankful wife, she accepts the place God gives her and occupies it with joy.

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