Christ Jesus… did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation… coming in the likeness of men. (Philip 2:5-7)

I am glad Christ didn’t selfishly hold on to heaven. I’m glad He deferred to my world and my needs, thinking them more important than His own.

True deference (polite submission and respect) always implies following Christ’s example by giving up my way or my plans. It requires sacrifice. Deference means that I must ask these questions: “in light of eternity, how important is my agenda?” and “how much more important is it to love my spouse than to have my own way?”

Ephesians 5:25 reads “Husbands love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself for her”. We need to ask ourselves what we have given up for our spouses?

The issue is not how hard we have worked to provide an adequate living. It is not how hard we have tried or whether we have stayed with our family, even during the tough times. Those issues are important, but the Lord seemed to be asking us what have we sacrificed for our spouse.

We need to realize that the Lord wants us to make ourselves of “no reputation” and humble ourselves and defer to our spouse in many areas. He maybe wanting us to defer and give up our sloppiness. We need to die to our selfishness and clean up the bathroom and wipe the coffee we spilled in our car. He may want us to defer to our spouse and give up our procrastination. He want us to be more mindful of projects or duties around the house and complete them in a specified time frame. He wants us to die to our selfish timetable and finish the chores and responsibilities at home – like we had promised.

ACTION ASSIGNMENT
In what areas can we truly defer to our spouse – sacrifice for them – today?

PRAYER: Lord, don’t hold back Your hand from reshaping my life according to Your pleasure. In Jesus’ name, amen.