 is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to them when you sit in your house in your hand and they will be as front legs between your eyes. You shall light them on the door of your house and on your case. So we see a very important instruction the Lord is giving the children is rare and saying, okay, one thing, the first thing is about the Lord Himself, the description of who He is here in Israel. The Lord is God, the Lord is one. And second one is how we need to relate to Him. It's not a ritual, it's not a tradition, but you shall love the Lord your God. It's a loving relationship. It's a loving relationship with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength. And then it gives an instruction for the parents towards their children what they need to do. It says here, first of all, this command should be in your heart. You love the Lord and it says you shall teach them diligently to your children. Okay, so teaching them about God, teaching them, teaching children, first and foremost, primary responsibility of parents, and that's what we see. We should teach them. And then He also says you should talk of them. Okay, so teaching is probably in a very formal setting. Maybe we are saying, okay, come, let's sit down, let's, I just want to teach you something about God, what He has done. It's a little bit formal. He also says, and you shall talk of them. And He talks about where scenarios may sit in your house, when you walk, by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up. So He talks about various informal settings where you have, they're saying, okay, let's just have a chat. We're just having coffee, we're just having maybe breakfast, and we're just sitting down and let's have a chat. Okay, so you should talk of them, talk about God. So it's not, you know, you don't readily change your tone of voice and you're not preaching, but you are talking of God. It's a very normal, very real, very authentic thing. So what happens is that children also begin to understand that, hey, God is not relegated to a particular day. It's not, you know, something traditional, something ritualistic, but it's as real. A relationship with Him is so real, as normal as breathing, as normal as sitting down, as normal as taking a walk, as normal as lying down, as rising up, and it is part of our everyday life. So we see these very important instructions. This is how you relate to God, you relate to God, you love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and you teach diligently to children. It's the responsibility of parents. But you also talk of them. So the parents and children know that this is how I can relate to God. I can have conversations about God, about the reality of God, about, you know, how God, what God means to my parents and how God is dealt with them. If you read the rest of the chapter and especially verse 20, it asks about, you know, when your son asks these questions, you know, what are these teachings? What are these commandments? Then you shall answer. And the answer is that, okay, this is what God did for us. So in our day and time, can testify about this is how God dealt with me. This is how God led me. This is how I came to know God. So it's very real, very authentic and it's in a family setting. So let's pray. And if there's something that we can ask God, we can ask God, say, Lord, I want my relationship with you to be real. I want it to be as normal, as breathing, as frequent as eating, as normal and frequent as everyday life. I want my relationship with you to be like that. And so that it can just flow out in normal conversation, in day-to-day things. It can just flow out and I can testify a few, right? Okay, let's pray. Father, we thank you, Lord. Thank you for this day. We thank you that you're so real to each one of us. We thank you that you teach us in normal everyday settings. Lord, we thank you, God, that you have drawn us, invited us, Lord, into this relationship with you, God. And it's a relationship of love. It's a relationship of holiness and purity and righteousness, God. And Lord, enable us, Lord, to love you with all our heart, with all our strength, with everything within us, with all our soul, oh, God. I pray, Father, God, this morning that if there's anything that is hindering us from loving you in this manner, Lord, to obey your commandments is to love you, Lord. If you said, oh, God, if you love me, obey my commandments. And so, God, if there's anything that is hindering us, Lord, I pray that it'll be broken. I pray that if there's anything that we have set up, Lord, unknowingly, unknowingly, that is stopping us from loving you in this manner, I pray that we will set it aside and put it away, God, and repent and begin to follow you. And, Lord, we thank you for those of us who are parents. We thank you for these instructions that we will, Lord, teach diligently, Lord. And we will not shirk from this responsibility, God, as parents, that we will teach diligently. And we will also talk of what you have done, talk of who you are to us, Lord, in all these everyday settings, routine settings. We just want to thank you for these instructions. We come at these today's sessions, these glasses into your mighty hands. In Jesus' precious name, we pray. Amen. Okay. Right. So, hope everybody's doing fine. I saw... Okay, this is for the biblical preaching class. I saw what you uploaded on the chat, on the classroom, classwork section. So, I saw that. Maybe we'll talk about that in the third hour. Okay. So, in the Marogen family, we've been we've been studying about... We're in the fourth chapter, right? We're in the fourth chapter about understanding roles. It's very important that the husband understands his role, the wife understands her role, and it will make for... To have clarity in this will really help the process of becoming one, right? Will really help the marriage, will really smoothen out a lot of differences, right? Will really also bring our expectations, will make it real authentic, right? And it won't be an unreal expectation. And also, our expectation will be founded on scripture, founded on the truth to say that, hey, this is what God has put down as the role of the husband. So, my expectation would be that as a spouse, you fulfill that role, right? And how can I help you fulfill that role? So, it's important for us to understand the role, right? Okay. Sir, can I see your prayer request? Okay. Fine. So, this is something that we need to understand, right? So, we looked at the husband's role last class. We looked at the husband's role and I think we went midway, right? And to look at this, we were looking at Ephesians chapter five, which very beautifully and also very in a detailed manner descriptively, charts down, lists down, what is the role of the husband? Okay. So, it talks about how one needs to relate as husband and wife, how they need to relate to each other. So, let's do a quick recap. We saw that before that, I read that passage, Ephesians five, and yeah, verse 21 onwards. Okay. Submitting to one another in the fear of God. And before that, you know, it says, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, etc., and say submitting to one another in the fear of God. Give us 22. Wives submit to your own husbands as to the Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ is the head of the church, and he is the savior of the body. Therefore, just as Christ is subject, the church is subject to Christ. So, let wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her, that he might sanctify and cleanser with the washing of water by the word, that he might present her to himself. A glorious church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So, husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself, for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of his body, of his flesh, of his bones. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself and let the wife see that she respects her husband. So, from 21 onwards to the end of the chapter, we see this beautiful representation or this analogy of Christ and the church in the body and he's relating that to the husband and the wife. So, we see that the husband has to love. We will come to the role of the wife a little later. So, we see that the husband has to love the wife and the word used there as agape. And husband loves the wife as Christ loves the church. So, it's unconditional love. It's a sacrificial love. It's a love that demands a lot out of us who are going to be loving our wives. So, it's a love that builds up and enriches the wife. And he uses another word, says we need to, husbands need to nourish the wife. So, we see that in verse 29, no one hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it just as the Lord does the church. So, in relating to the wife, the husband has to nourish the wife, meaning nurture. So, not only provide for physical needs as part of the responsibility, but also provide for the emotional needs, provide for the spiritual needs. So, be encouraging and be spiritually also to guide, to motivate, to enable the wife to grow, to empower the wife to grow. So, it's not a constant instruction saying you do this, you do this, you do this, but it's to nurture and it's to nurture, it's to encourage. So, for those of us who are married, it's another checklist for us to really reflect upon and say, am I doing that? Because what happens is in the course of marriage, maybe just a year into it, two years, three years, whatever, and then your spouse's, your wife is very familiar to you. And then, what is familiar, we don't normally, maybe as we don't cherish or we don't nourish, but we see that as a responsibility, as a role of the husband. So, for a single person to understand that, okay, this is also part of the package, like when it comes to marriage, just that, it's not that I just get married and then things just happen, no, but this is expected of me to nourish my wife. It is expected of me to take care of her emotional needs, you know, maybe she's discouraged, maybe she's fearful, or maybe she lacks something emotionally. How do I, you know, how do I point her to Christ? Maybe spiritually to be that teacher, to be the head and to guide. So, that's a responsibility as well. So, we see nourishment, then we see cherishing. So, we saw that cherish is to treat something as precious, to consider something as precious. So, does or do I as a husband, do I cherish, do I treat her as something precious, or do I treat her as something that is common or worthless? How do I do that? You know, with my words, right? So, when we, when I communicate as a, when the husband communicates respectfully to the wife, the wife feels cherished, feels worth, feels valued. So, how is my communication as a husband? A wife feels valued and cherished when there is romance and not just physical intimacy, not just sex, right? So, that, that is also very important, you know. So, how do you treat the wife? So, find out, you know, at the end of this chapter, you're going to find out something about communication and also about language. Some of you may be aware of it, just going to look at that and that will actually help us to communicate in a manner and also, you know, to communicate with concern, to communicate respectfully and communicate in a manner that the wife understands, right? And also vice versa, right? So, so, there is romance. When the husband is trustworthy, okay? So, which means when the husband acts, behaves in a way that the husband, the wife can trust, right? Well, if the husband acts very suspiciously, right? Say, okay, well, I'm going to, for example, you know, the husband comes home late after work. The work got over at, let's say, six o'clock in the evening. The husband comes home at, comes home at 10, 10 p.m. And the wife asks, you know, where were you? And the husband says, that's none of your business, right? So, the husband, the wife is unable to trust the husband. First of all, the communication is very harsh and rude. And secondly, it's not open, not being transparent. And now, the wife feels, okay, what was he up to? Right? For us, after work, what was he up to? What did he do? Is he seeing someone else? Is he, you know, all those questions, all those suspicions, right? So, can the wife trust her husband? So, if the husband is trustworthy, which means, you know, you know, behavior, your speech and everything is about approach, and the wife is able to trust fully the husband, then the wife feels valued, feels cherished, right? Then, the wife also feels cherished when there is sharing of responsibilities, so that burden is made easier. The wife carries responsibilities, the husband carries responsibilities. So, when the husband reaches out to say, okay, let me, let me take care of this, so that, you know, you can rest or you can, you know, you can maybe probably go out and meet with your friends and do such things and let me, let me just take care of this today. Let me take care of what needs to be done today, maybe in the house, maybe something else, right? So, when that is done, then the wife feels cherished, the wife feels valued. Okay. Now, these are just, you know, just few examples, right? But I'm sure that there's a lot more and it can be specific to that particular person, right? The wife feels cherished when the husband sets a godly example in the pursuit of God, right? A godly example, a life that is pursuing God, a life that is passionate about God, then the wife feels cherished. Now, you might say, how does that happen? So, you know that, okay, husband is pursuing God, husband is going after righteousness, after holiness, then the wife feels secure, wife feels also, you know, that yes, this is the right direction, you know, the husband is taking, you know, if the husband is not pursuing God, let's say distancing himself from God, then you know that something is wrong. Okay. The husband could potentially open his life for temptation, potentially open his life for, you know, to make wrong choices, wrong decisions, and all that could happen, open the door for the enemy to walk in, right? So, so the wife feels valued. Okay. So, maybe we never thought of it that way, you know, in my pursuit of God, you know, how will that affect our relationship? We see that, you know, our lack of pursuit of God affects all relationships, all our relationships, you know, if it affects our relationship at work, it affects our friendships, it affects our, you know, relationship with family members, when we distance ourselves from God, because we are, we are designed to receive life from him, right? We are designed to be in that connection with him. So, when we, when we do not, you know, when we distance ourselves then, obviously, you know, like the Lord Jesus says, you know, with us, the branch with us and dies, right? Okay. So, the husband is also called to lead. Okay. Okay. So, that's, that's one thing, okay, to lead. Now, when it comes to leading, when it comes to leadership, now there could be, you know, various ways of defining leadership, different methods, different ways by which people lead, autocratic, dictatorial leadership. So, here we see that it's leadership the way Christ led. So, when it comes to leading also, it comes from this place of loving as Christ loved the church. So, it's a loving leadership. Okay. Some things for us to understand. Okay. When we say, okay, the husband is called to lead or the husband is the head. We see that it's a divine order, divine placement. It's never on superior abilities, because it's very clear. We see that we are co-heirs, right? We are co-heirs, which means that we are equal in the sight of God. So, it is not based on, you know, one is superior, one is inferior. But in God's eyes, we are equal. We are valued equally. We are sure, we are valued by him equally. So, there's no partiality. So, we need to understand that. Okay. So, what does it mean when it comes to, okay, the husband is the head of the house? That means that God has designed according to the role, according to the responsibility, God has, you know, divinely placed us as husbands in this place of headship. And the leadership is not something dictatorial, meaning, okay, you have to listen no matter what. I am the head of the house. So, you better listen. Everybody shape up. Everybody listen. You know, everybody better obey. No, it's not that. Because it says, you know, even that at the beginning of the chapter, be submitted to one another. Okay. So, be filled with the spirit, submitting to one another in the fear of God, right? That's what it says, right? Submitting to one another in the fear of God. So, you have God's, you know, you pursue God, you seek God, you evidentially have the fear of God and you submit to one another out of that. So, this, we see this headship or this leadership is based on divine order or divine design. Okay. When we understand that, then it brings a lot of clarity. You know, we don't mind, you know, the wife does not mind yielding to that headship, yielding to that leadership. Okay. This is how God designed. It's not to abuse. It's not to treat one disrespectfully. It's not to put one, you know, firmly in that place. It's not to use one as a doorman, right? But it's a loving leadership. Okay. Right. So, this leadership is based on Christ's example. This leadership involves taking responsibility, which means, you know, it's, leadership is responsibility, right? It's not being responsible. It is, it is, you know, it is, what are some responsibility, meeting family's needs, maybe financial needs, maybe to make decisions, maybe to be two steps ahead. Right. So, it involves responsibility. The husband is also called to be a loving leader. We looked at that. So, the thing is, when it comes to leadership, right, we need to earn the right to be, to lead. We need to earn the right to be heard as leaders in any, in any situation, right? Even in typical, you know, wherever, even if for us, the title of leadership is given, and then we are, we are leading, even in such scenarios, people will, okay, respect the title, you know, if it's an official setting, if it's a, you know, work setting, professional setting, people will, but then over a period of time, they will lose respect if we, if you do not earn the right to lead them, right? And that comes by competence, that comes by, you know, all the other things that we've been leading, I mean, studying about leadership comes out of compassion, etc. So, a loving leadership, so we need to be able to earn the right to lead, okay? Then the other thing is that we know that the husband is, is not perfect, okay? The husband is, has the potential to make mistakes, has the potential to maybe misjudge certain things. So, to be a leader, when we say the husband is a leader, the husband is the head of the house, that does not mean that the husband is always right, okay? The husband could make mistakes, but the husband needs to, maybe, you know, in areas where he feels he's wrong, maybe to accept that, right? Maybe in areas where he feels that, okay, he does not have the expertise to take help. Maybe the wife is, you know, competent in certain areas to take help, to take that counsel. So, so when we say leader does not mean that the husband knows everything, the husband is always right, we don't, you know, we're not saying that. So, we understand that God has created, God designed marriage to be this way, and this leadership has one of the roles, one of the responsibilities of the husband. Okay, then to know the wife, okay, then let's say, of course, I know everything about, but about the other person, but do you truly know, right? What is, what is her strength? What is her weakness? What are her likes? What are her dislikes? I do know her, what are her fears, right? Well, during the courtship days, there's a lot of communication, you know, trying to find out, okay, what is it that you like, and you're doing things that, you know, buying things that she likes, and okay, okay, this maroon is the color that you like, okay, let me get something in maroon. You know, during the courtship days, all that happens, but you know, during the course of the marriage as well, getting to know your spouse or getting to know your wife specifically is very important, right? No, so that, that is also something that we need to, as husbands, there's a responsibility, okay, then honor, honor, respect, and celebrate who she is, right? All the gifts and everything, the grace that she carries, the nothing that she has, you know, have you looked at it that way? How, what has God anointed her to be? What has God graced her to be? What has God gifted her, right? And, and to really celebrate that, to honor that, saying, God, you know, you are working in her, the way you dwell in me, you dwell in her, and to honor the gifting, honor the release of the wisdom, God's wisdom that she carries, right, to celebrate that, okay. So these are some things that we see as, when we consider the role of the husband. So you see that it is, it is something for us to understand, you know, if we are single, it's something for us to really study and see, okay, how can I do this, right? Or, and to, you know, renew our mind to the truth that, to the fact that, okay, this is something that I need to do intentionally, okay. It is not something that happens by chance. It is something that I need to, when I consider marriage, when I want, you know, if I'm considering marriage, then I need to be equipped. I need to think about these things, okay. So you see how preparing for marriage is important, because we may not consider all this. You may have a very romantic view of marriage and say, okay, it'll all, you know, it'll be fine as long as I'm, you know, with this person all the time, but, you know, that it is not so, right. Because we can live under the same roof and yet be very distant from the spouse. So for those of us who are single, we need to, you know, consider this seriously. For those who are married, these are areas for us to grow in, right. Okay, let's look at the wives' responsibility and the wives' role, okay. Here we see, again in the same chapter, we see that wives are called to love, to respect, and the word that is used there, wives submit to your own husbands as to the Lord and so on. So we see here that the word that is used for love and, you know, in Titus chapter 2 verse 4 and Genesis 2, 20, the idea, you know, in Genesis 2, 20 is that of the companion and Titus 2, 24, the word used is filet, the word used for love is filet, which means a friend, to be your best friend, to be a companion. Okay, so the wife has to, you know, or the wife to be needs to understand that, okay, I'm going to be, or I'm going to, you know, see, you cannot just become a best friend just like that, right. It takes time. So I'm going to do whatever it takes to be my husband's, husband to be his best friend or companion, help meet, right, which means that I need to, as long as, okay, he is submitted to God, he is, you know, doing his bit, I need to understand that he is also a work in progress, right. He is also a work in progress just as I am. So the wife needs to understand or the wife to be needs to understand that he is a work in progress. Therefore, I'm going to accept him. So when we say work in progress, that means there is some progress happening, like intentionally, he's looking at, you know, he's progressing, he's also doing something, he's approaching God, he's seeking to change, right. So he is a work in progress. There's there's a movement there, there's a momentum there. And wife to be says, okay, I'm going to accept him as he is. Okay, these are some rough edges, right. These are some areas that I see that these need to be turned into strengths. He's not there yet. Okay, now I'm going to accept him as he is. Okay, now here I just wanted to pause and talk about, you know, what we just remind us about what we looked at when we were considering the compatibility, you know, in that chapter, when it comes to preparing, you know, we looked at compatibility and we said that some things are non-negotiable. It's spiritual compatibility, emotional compatibility, we're considering a lot of things and then we are also asking a few questions, you know, when it comes to, you know, is he able to provide? Does he have a relationship with God? Is he a believer? And all those questions are non-negotiables, like the answers to those things. We are. So when we're saying that I'm going to accept him as he is, right, we're not talking about that. So now those are foundational, those are given. So when we're saying, okay, I'm going to accept him as he is with his imperfection, okay, you're saying that, okay, he is a child of God. He is, you know, in all these areas, he is, there is a foundation, right, we are compatible. And at the same time, I see that he's not a perfect person. He's a suitable person because he's compatible. But he's not the perfect person. He's the right person, but he's not the perfect one. There's a difference, right? So the suitable one or the right one need not be the perfect one. He is a work in progress. So, so he's a work in progress. So I'm going to accept him as he is, right? Okay. Then it's also, you know, as a wife, I'm going to love. So love means, again, just like the husband loves, it's sacrificial action. It's not just saying in words, or it's not just, you know, saying, you know, so many times I love you, I love you, I love you, but it's also action. Love is a verb. It needs to be demonstrated and it would involve sacrifice, right? It's sacrificial action. It's demonstrated through our focus, availability, willingness, etc. Love is also physical willingness in the sense, you know, when it comes to physical intimacy, you know, it's also an expression of love. So both the husband and the wife or the husband to be and the wife to be need to understand that it's an expression of love. It's an expression of, we're going to, you know, study that, of course, in a separate chapter, but it's an expression of love and God designed it. There's nothing to be ashamed of and so on, right? Okay. So submitting. So loving the husband is one, and submitting is another. So here we also saw, you know, submission is is something that is, again, a divine order, a divine design, because the husband is it. God is placed as the leader, as the head. So therefore, it requires, you know, the wife to be submitted. At the same time, we also see that, you know, you be submitted to one another, right? In the fear of God. Okay. So submission is not a bad word. Okay. It's not a bad word. It's not, you know, because a lot of people say, I will never, you know, why should I submit to another person as long as we are equal? What is the question of submission? Where is the question of submission? We are equal. Right. But the fact is this, that the submission of the wife demonstrates love, demonstrates support and also demonstrates that, okay, I recognize and acknowledge that God has appointed you, you know, as a leader, as the head of the house. I acknowledge that. So not only are you honoring God by doing that, but you're also demonstrating support. It gives the husband a lot of confidence to say that, to know that my wife is actually supporting me in this. And she demonstrates her support by being submitted. Okay. So being submitted means a lot of things. It means I'm not competing with my husband for the position of leadership. It means that I'm obedient to God. It means that I'm actually releasing, you know, freeing my husband to take his appointed role, his appointed place in marriage. So imagine, you know, this is actually causing the marriage to thrive and flourish. Okay. So as long as wives understand, no, no, no, the big thing is this, that the husband loves the wife as Christ loved the church. And out of that loving leadership, right, in response to that loving leadership, the wife eels in submission. So you see the beautiful picture, right? It's not the husband demanding submission is not that the husband, out of force, making the wife submit, but it's from a place of loving leadership. From a place where God has designed and from that place, as the husband carries out his role, God appointed role as a leader in loving leadership, then it becomes an actual thing for the wife to submit, to be yielded to this design, right? So we see that. So it's being obedient, it's freeing, it's also empowering the husband to lead. Okay. So we all, we see that it empowers the husband, it boosts the confidence of the husband, it empowers the husband to lead, okay, to maybe the husband, and we're just saying that, okay, wife is constantly saying, he's not leading in all spiritual matter, he's not taking decisions, but maybe that is so, but also we need to check and see, am I empowering him to do that? Am I empowering him? Or do I make fun because of my competence, because I'm better at certain things? Do I constantly put him down, right? Or do I constantly challenge him, challenge his leadership? All that, we need to look and see, wife is looking, reflect and see, am I actually freeing him to be God, to be whom God has called him to be as a husband, right? So this submission means all this, but submission does not mean that one is inferior. I think that is the greatest fear a person might have to submit or to surrender, saying, oh, how can I do that? Or maybe that person has grown up in a place where there was constant conflict and there was constant put down and the person had to really, the other woman, the girl had to really, to really rise up and rebel and to make her voice to be heard, right? In that kind of a, you know, maybe you said, which maybe she grew up in that. So for her, any kind of submitting to leadership is a problem because she's been wounded, she's been hurt and she had to really fight and struggle to be heard, to be respected. She had to do these things. So she learns a very, you know, unwritten lesson saying, okay, I need to be this, I need to be rude, I need to put down, you know, especially if it's a man, I need to put him in place, only then I will get respect. So if a person comes from that background, right? And with that understanding, now she's going to be, it's going to be difficult, but the moment the person understands, this is actually what God's design is. This is his intention, right? It is, it does not mean that I'm inferior. It does not mean that I'm, you know, I don't have qualities. I don't possess skills. It never means that. So when a person understands that, then it frees that person to submit willingly. It does not mean that I need to compromise on my individuality or lose my identity. Now God, we know that God has created each one of us unique, each one of us, you know, beautifully, wonderfully, he has created us. He has given us our identity, our identity, you know, in our relationship with Christ, our identity is strong. We have certain unique personalities and God respects that, values that, right? Just because you become a believer, you know, it doesn't mean that you lose your sense of identity. You lose your, you know, your identity is actually becomes one with Christ, but you see that in that also, you know, God respects your individuality and your likes, your dislikes, everything, you know, and your expression, your creativity and all that, you know, it's never lost. So when we say I'm submitted, I'm not saying that my individuality is not there anymore. My identity is not there anymore, right? Also, submission does not mean that it's blind obedience. Well, the husband is always right. No, it doesn't mean that it does not mean that I can be a though man, I can be just used like an object. No, it does not mean that. So now, now you see that submission in the light of all this, right? We see that submission is a beautiful thing. It's not a problem in the light of this. Well, will the husband make mistakes? Yes. Will the wife make mistakes? Yes. Right. And that is why we need to grow in our understanding of our role and really take that up and say, okay, God, you know, as part of our Christ likeness, this is also one such thing that we say that, yes, Lord, I need to change to be this, to be the best husband that I can be, to be the best wife I can be. And I need to prepare, I need to let your word, but the truth of your word renew my thinking. But I need to renew my thoughts to the truth of your word. Now, society is saying something. My family is saying something. Now, this is how a husband should be. Recently, I just had the conversation, the wife was saying that the husband is doing something which is terribly wrong. The wife is saying that, my family is saying this, men will be like this. I just need to adjust and go. And then we like this. And then, you know, it's a question of, it's a thing of matter of abuse. So when it'll be like this, we need, we just need to adjust and go. No. Right. This is how God wants marriage to be. And this is how he is designed it to be. So there's no question of saying that, okay, I will be used like a domain and I will be used like an object and then, you know, and, and be considered worthless or no, it's not that God, that is never God's idea. And that is never God's design. So submission is not bad. Right. So when you look at the other thing, which is respecting the husband, then we see that it flows automatically. It says, I think we see it in efficiency, right. Wives respect your husband. So submit your husband as to the Lord and also in verse 33, let the wife see that she respects her husband. So respect is something that is due. Something it means to say, I honor you. I appreciate you. You know, appreciate the challenges the husband faces appreciate or, you know, recognize it, you know, acknowledge, yes, you know, maybe at work, the husband is really doing his best, you know, appreciate and honor that and appreciate his uniqueness. Don't keep comparing, okay, that person is like this, that person is appreciate the uniqueness of this person whom God has brought to be a husband. So appreciate the uniqueness, right. And also help by assisting, supporting, encouraging. So we see that Genesis 2 verse 20 that God says, I will create someone to be the helpmate who is suitable, who will be companion, who will be the helpmate, right. So that's God's intent for, for, you know, why he created, let's look at that Genesis 2 verse 20. So there was not found a helper comparable to him. So there was a need 220. And then God creates and the Lord God, he took, closed up, and he made into a woman and he brought her to the man. Okay, so we see that, okay, so this particular need of companionship of helpmate is a big thing. Okay, so when the wife says, okay, can I assist, can I help, you're actually fulfilling a big role in marriage as the wife. So it's not something demeaning, it's not something that, something that is, well, you're saying that I'm inferior therefore I need to do it. No, as long as the wife understands, this is the original design and intent and I'm actually fulfilling that role. So the wife also feels fulfilled. Well, that's a beauty thing, beautiful thing. The wife also feels fulfilled and the husband is liberated to do what he needs to do. Okay, so, you know, of course, you know, if you're preparing for marriage, there are these exercises that you can do or if you are in, if you are married, then you can actually, as a wife, as a husband, you know, you can take some time to actually list down, think, list down, you know, how can I love my wife? How can I nourish my wife? How can I cherish my wife? So it's, it's, it'll be a very good exercise and maybe, you know, you can attend a marriage seminar and that'll be a good thing as well. It can really enrich your marriage. Okay, so we'll stop here and then we'll come back and we'll look at some real-life examples, you know, talk about submission and then continue that. Okay, take a 10-minute break.