Submission Without Equality is Slavery’ — Pastor Jimmy Odukoya

Marriage is an institution of lifetime learning, one in which you get a certificate before the work begins!

The above was the declaration of the Senior Pastor of The Fountain of Life Church (TFOLC), Ilupeju, Lagos, while reading from Ephesians 5:22-31.

Highlighting the roles of wives in marriage, Pastor Jimmy stated that the only man the wife is obligated to submit to is her husband.

He also mentioned that the very fact that the husband and wife were both created equally gives the reason submission as a wife is a service.

To put this in a simpler context, Pastor Jimmy explained that submission without equality is slavery and if it is slavery, then it is not submission.

“True submission in the home comes when the wife willingly yields her authority, not by coercion.

“Wives, ought to serve their husbands the way they serve the Lord as the husband is the representation of God in the home as a King while the wife is the Queen,” he stated.

Referencing 1 Corinthians 7:1-5, Pastor Jimmy encouraged wives to celebrate their husbands always and not neglect them once children are in the picture.

The preacher urged wives to love their husbands and train their children.

Highlighting the roles of the husband in marriage, Pastor Jimmy, reading from Ephesians 5:25-31, explained that the responsibility to love starts from the man, and a man – the husband, cannot force a woman – the wife, into submission, he can only love her into submission.

Identifying Jesus Christ as the standard for husbands to show love to their wives, Pastor Jimmy stated that the life of the husband becomes sacrificial from the moment he says I do.

“He must be willing to lay down his life for his family. He must also be the covering of his wife spiritually, physically, emotionally, financially,” he stated.

In closing, he admonished husbands to see their wives as reflections of themselves, and they should not do to their wives what they would not do to themselves, rather they should treat their wives well because failure to do so can hinder their prayers.