Resources/Articles
"In the Lord": The Phrase Which Makes the Difference
And whatsoever ye do, in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
Colossians 3.17
Whatsoever is done needs the divine authority of God. It is authority which impacts every relationship from Colossians 3.18-23.
Give attention to the relationship of marriage. Wives are given submission as their responsibility. Love is what husbands are assigned to do. Both are divine appointments for those who wish to participate in this relationship. The significant point lies not in your feelings about your place in marriage, but the way God says it should be.
Not only is a husband appointed to love his wife, Ephesians 5.25-29 shows how that love is to be made manifest. It comes in the form of leadership, sacrifice, and preservation of purity and holiness in one’s wife. This love will cover every need a wife has in marriage. A wife married to a man who acts “in the Lord” in his marriage will rejoice in this relationship and will act with her husband in whatever they do “in the name of the Lord.”
Every wife who rejoices in marriage not only appreciates the love of her husband, she also behaves in submission “as is fitting in the Lord.” She does not need a husband to tell her what her responsibility is. She receives her call of submission from God, for she is already in submission to Him in whatever way He desires of her. With that attitude of heart and her actions of respect and honor toward her husband, she becomes to be all her husband could have ever wanted in a wife. The reason - the phrase “in the name of the Lord.”
“In the Lord” is what takes what most would consider ordinary and normal in a marriage and makes it holy and excellent. “In the Lord” is the highest standard of counsel for any married couple. “In the Lord” is the motive for action resulting in blessings they never thought possible. “In the Lord” never hesitates to forgive, endure, hope, and believe in marriage. “In the Lord” brings two to become one in a relationship where God makes all the difference for the man and woman who are different.
