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NASB | Ephesians 5:22 ¶ Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ephesians 5:22 ¶ Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as [a service] to the Lord. |
Bible Question:
Which parent has the primary responsibility for raising a child? Background: I am currently in the middle of a divorce (Biblically supported after much prayer, study, and counsel), and I believe I am being called overseas to serve God in Indonesia. I have studied and prayed and counseled and studied and prayed and counseled and studied and pra....you get the idea. This question is not about my divorce, my calling, or to where I'm being called. It is about my children. Someone suggested to me that it could be better for my children to bring them with me rather than staying here in the States with their mother. This would be a solution to the one issue that I have yet to resolve in my heart - that is, what about my responsibility to raise Godly children? If I follow my calling and go overseas, am I abandoning my responsibility to my children? Is there anything in the Bible about which parent bears the primary burden of child-rearing? How can I respond to the call of God without abandoning my responsibility to my children? Please note, I am not asking "which parent should raise the kids?" I am fully aware that both parents have an equal contribution to the rearing of a child, however, when all is said and done, I believe the *accountability* of the child-rearing falls on the father. I just don't know the Biblical references, and I don't know how much, if any, accountability lies with the mother, Biblically speaking. I would appreciate any responses (especially Biblical references) to my primary question anyone can provide. Thanks! |
Bible Answer: Dear Magellan, I would look to Eph. 5:22-30 for starters. I believe there is a Biblical order vertically in a marriage/family relationship that establishes the husband as head. Eph. 5:22-23 says; "Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body." This has support up all the way back to Genesis with the creation of Adam. (Gen. 2:7, 15-17, ff.) 1 Peter 3:1, 5-7 deals with submission in marriage. Note verse 1, "In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives..." I trust this will help for starters. BradK |