What a man wants (2)

The second thing a man wants is "Hierarchy": ‘Be grateful for his desire to protect and provide" (Emerson Eggerich, "Love & Respect ").

Maybe many women would not like it they hear that what the man wants is "hierarchy."  The reason for this is because they may think "hierarchy" means male supremacy such as ‘A man dominates a woman,’ ‘It is a men's world,’ ‘The man is superior and the woman is inferior.’  So many women have negative thoughts about this "hierarchy" that the man wants, so she refuses to admit her husband’s desire for “hierarchy’ and give it to him.  But the women must think hierarchy biblically, not as male supremacy.  Here, thinking hierarchy biblically means that the woman should recognize the true meaning of the ‘biblical hierarchy,’ and obey the Lord's command by acknowledging the hierarchy that her husband desires.

What is the meaning of the biblically hierarchy?  Look at Ephesians 5:22-24: “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.  Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.”  Here the word “submit” in Greek is a compound word that means ‘lower rank’ and ‘lower status’ (Eggerich).  The Bible says that the husband is the head of his wife.  This doesn’t mean that the husband is superior to his wife.  The man should not misunderstand this word, thinking that he is superior to his wife, and treat her as a slave.  This is abusing the divine authority which God gave to the man, the head of the family.  Such man would obviously be an authoritarian husband and a father.  That’s not why God gave the man divine authority.  The man should realize that when God gave him the divine authority in the family, that means he has great responsibility.  And that great responsibility is for him to love (v. 25), protect and provide his wife and children.  And he should do that even as he sacrifices himself for the family.  To such husband who faithfully carries this responsibility, the wife must obey and be under his protection.  And not only she respects her husband who is faithfully taking care of his responsibility, but also she should show him how much she respect him.  One way to do that is to thank her husband, who is devoted to protect and provide her and their children.  She should not complain.  She should not blame her husband for low income.  Rather, she must express her gratitude for his devoted efforts to support the family.  And she does so, she should give her husband her trust.  In doing so, the husband will be more devoted in protecting and providing for his wife and children.