Wednesday, October 30, 2002

Male Bride?

I had formerly thought about the meaning of "bride of Christ," as it is applied to the church, but, today, I thought about it in terms applied to me. And I thougt it would be instructive to point out that our gender/sex stereotyping may be keeping us from learning a valuable lesson.

Now, as a husband, I have certain expectations of my wife. Did it ever occur to me that Christ, as my husband, may have similar expectations of me?

Do you think I can press the analogy far enough to suggest that in my relationship to Christ, I am modeling the behavior my wife observes and learns about how she should behave towards me? If I become impatient with my wife's attitudes and behaviors, are they not merely learned patterns that I have taught her, by example? If I want a better bride, I should be a better bride.

That is deep and it hurts so it must contain some truth.

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