18 Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.21 Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 25 Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favouritism.1 Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.REFLECTIONSWritten by Simon GillhamWell, this is awkward isn’t it?  I mean this talk of submission and obedience is just so foreign to us and our culture isn’t it.  Notice in this passage there are three pairs of relationships, and specific instructions to each side of each pair.  For us, the first instruction in each pair is the one that grates against our culture; wives submit, children obey, slaves obey.  When the Colossian Christians first read this letter it was most likely the second of each pair that would’ve grated; husbands love and be gentle, fathers encourage, masters worry about what is right and fair for slaves.It felt awkward for the Colossians and feels awkward for us today (in completely different ways) for exactly the same reason.  Putting to death our earthly nature and putting on Christ will mean that we live differently to the world around us.  This is seen most clearly in our closest relationships.Notice now that each group of people that Paul addresses are given instructions about what they are to do themselves, and none of them are told to enforce behaviour on the other side of the relationship.  This is by no means everything that there is to say about these relationships – and there are limits to the application of these instructions at each point.  (e.g. We shouldn’t obey parents who are commanding us to do something illegal or immoral, and we shouldn’t withhold godly discipline from our little children for fear of them being embittered or discouraged).  My risk though, is that instead of quickly seeking to obey commands that are clear and right for me, I immediately think of the exceptions and loopholes.  Are you like me?I do need to be more constant in my love for Margie (my wife), laying my life down for her and being gentle in speech and action.  I do need to look for ways to encourage my adult children.What would obeying the commands of this passage look like in your life?Which Christian brother or sister at church could you talk to about working out the details of these relationships that you’re not sure about?ABOUT THE AUTHORSimon is a member of our Bossley Park Morning Congregation.