Colossians 3:18-4:1
"rules for christian households"
Paul provides some basic rules for, guess what, households. just a quick glance, notice that each is grouped in pairs, because every relationship is made up of more than one person.
first we have rules for relations between a married couple. the wife must submit to the husband (yes, the often-quoted verse by many men, but it is taken out of context, as we will see). the second half of the rule is this: husbands, love your wives and do not mistreat them. both of these work in co-ordination - if a husband follows the second, then the wife should hopefully not be conflicted about following the first. however, this sometimes does not work right; the husbands, in these cases, demand the first of their wives, but then don't apply the second to their own.
second, we have child-parent relations [yay...]. children, you should obey your parents [and i hear a collective cheer], but you parents, do not provoke your kids. again, these rules work particularly well when both parties follow their rules, but oftentimes many people don't.
the last set of rules is for slaves and owners. now, before you say "it's not relevant!" think of this as a working relationship - boss & staff. slaves/staff are to obey the master/boss and masters/bosses are to be just and fair to their slaves/staff. paul also gives some instructions to slaves on obedience. work just as hard when the boss is not around as when he is and work with all your being - like you're working for God.
now, i realize many people don't exercise these rules and that's usually because the more dominant person in each relationship (husband, parent, boss) isn't following their rule, making it harder for the less dominant person to follow theirs. these rules, however, when put into use, produce some amazing results.
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