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Larry Ray Hafley
In his biography of the "Father of our country," (GEORGE WASHINGTON, Man And
Monument), Marcus Cunliffe writes:
"What irked the American colonies...was the assumption they were not parts of
Britain but possessions of Britain. The mother country regarded them as infants,
to be indulged when they behaved obediently and spanked when they were
naughty."
Application In The Home
Marriage partners are just that. They are "partners," not property. As "one
flesh," they are members one of another, "bone of my bones, and flesh of my
flesh." Because of this intimate relationship, "so ought men to love their wives
as their own bodies" (Eph. 5:28).
Selfishness and jealousy in a marriage is an indication that one or both
partners regards the other as a "possession" to be owned and not as a "part" of
one's self to be loved, honored, nurtured and cherished.
Kindness is not to be dispensed as a favor for "good behavior." Meanness is
not a club with which one partner beats the other for "being bad." One's mate is
not a child to be "controlled." Rather, as "heirs together of the grace of
life," each is to seek the other's welfare, contentment, and happiness (1 Pet.
3:7).
If your marriage is not a happy one, it may be because you treat your
companion as a piece of property and not as a part of yourself. Such an attitude
"irked" the American colonies, provoked a revolution, and led to a dissolution
of a national relationship. It may also discourage your mate, deepen domestic
hostility, and lead to physical and emotional divorce in the court room of
shattered love and wasted lives.
Yes, husbands and wives "belong to" one another (1 Cor. 7:3, 4). However,
this belonging is as my arm belongs to my body and not as my car belongs to me.
We are "part" of one another and not a "possession" to be tossed aside, or
bought and sold. Therefore, "let everyone of you in particular so love his wife
even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband" (Eph.
5:33).
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