Honor in your Family and Homes

Colossians 3:18-4:1

[18] Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. [19] Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. [20] Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. [21] Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. [22] Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. [23] Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, [24] knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. [25] For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.

[1] Masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.

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Living the Christian life has implications for every aspect of life. All that Paul has discussed in his letter to the church of Colossae is not for their amusement or to be applied exclusively in the context of the gathering of the church. It is the truth for one’s entire life. It does not change for circumstances or time periods. The righteousness and holiness of God remain the same across cultures, regardless of the morals and behaviors accepted in society.

Truth is just that; always true.

Here, Paul takes time to speak into the culture that the people he is writing to are facing. He is showing the morals and lifestyle Christ calls for in His followers; the image that the Children of God bear applies to every life scenario.

Regardless of the role someone has in a relationship in society, Paul demonstrates that all are under Christ and called to act accordingly. Obedience is a commonality across the different roles discussed, which are addressed equally. Whatever season or role you find yourself in, ultimately, it is Christ we are called to obey in how we live towards others. Of all the different titles and roles, only one in the passage is referred to as Lord: Jesus Christ.

You might recall in Paul’s letter that He has been conveying this:

And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

Colossians 1:18

you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.

Colossians 2:10

Jesus as Lord is clear throughout Scripture. It not only conveys Jesus as the sole ownership of the authoritative title, but the reason in which it as been bestowed only unto Him:

He who comes from above is above all.

John 3:31a

John bore witness about [Jesus], and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”

John 1:15

though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:7-11

The key to understanding the truth of what Paul is saying here is knowing who we “work for”. As in the previous verses, in all that we say or do, we do in the name of Jesus. At times, we may be compelled to do things to please others or ourselves, in fear of losing acceptance or attention. We forget that while others may be in positions of authority here on earth, our fear does not need to reside in them because Jesus reigns above all.

And just because we have some form of authority, we are still under the Lord’s authority. So the attitude we should embrace is that of a servant. We value others as God values them. In our interactions, as fitting for the Lord, we serve others in the same manner as our King served—in the same Spirit of servitude and humility, who came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.

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Questions

Q: Are these verses accepted in our culture? Churches? Households?

Q: How does this connect our faith with our daily lives?

Q: What is the significance in remembering who we ultimately work for?

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Notes

“Bondservants” were commonly in a situation of debt, not racial slavery. This type of slavery was often a temporary servitude. Regardless, in the first century Roman culture, they were considered less than. Verses like these were considered revolutionary, placing the Lord as the master of all equally.