Read all of Ephesians 5-6. What does this text tell you about God? What do you notice about the character of God? How does this text reveal the love of God?
Read and meditate on Ephesians 5.21. “Submit to one another out of reverence of Christ.”
Read and reflect on the following definition of submission: “Submission is laying down a person’s will, desires, rights, and entitlements to the will of another for the other person’s sake.”
In your own words, define submission. Using Scripture, give some examples of Biblical submission. In what ways do you see Jesus exhibit submission? What’s the purpose of God’s call for His people to submit to Him, and to one another? Describe a time when someone submitted to you.
Reread the following verses from Ephesians 5 & 6 and answer the questions that follow. Ephesians 5.22-24; 6.1-4, 5-9. What does it look like for a husband to submit to his wife, and the wife to her husband? What does it mean for a father not to “exasperate” his child? What is the role of a submission from a master to a servant? Where do you sense a desire to grow in submission?
Read Philippians 2.5-8. Note how Jesus submitted.
What’s the ultimate purpose of our submission? To whom are we ultimately submitting?
Scripture says, “For this reason” a man leaves his father and mother. What is “this reason?”
What is God’s intent of marriage? Be specific.
Read Revelation 2.1-7 and answer the following questions. What is the church at Ephesus commended for? Where have they fallen short? What is the “first love” noted in the text?
Compare and contrast Revelation 2.1-7 with 1 Corinthians 13.
How is it possible to “lose your first love?” How would one go back and embrace “first love”?
What’s the most important truth you’ve gleaned in the verses you’ve read in this study? How might a friend join you in fully living out that one truth?
How is God inviting you to receive His truth today? Receive.
