The responsibilities of husband and wife

At creation God assigned differing roles to man and woman. Man was created to work and keep
the garden (Genesis 2:15). Woman was designed to help man in his tasks (Genesis 2:18). They
each had two very distinct and differing roles. However, they were both created in Gods image
(Genesis 1:27), and therefore, their roles were equal in value but differing in function.
At creation, everything was good. These roles were assigned before the fall. After the fall, Adam
continued to provide for his family (Genesis 3:17), and Eve would be the bearer and nurturer of
the children (Genesis 3:16, 20).
The punishments because of the fall did not dictate their roles.
It simply complicated the already existing roles.
When Adam and Eve hid in the garden, Adam was called upon first by God even though Eve had
committed the sin first (Genesis 3:9). Clearly God placed Adam as the leader, but Adam chose to
be passive. Eve had the role of helper but had violated it--taking leadership (Genesis 3:6). The
roles were reversed during the fall.
The pattern of Biblical roles within marriage continued throughout the Old Testament. In the
New Testament, the roles did not change but were given a special emphasis that male and female
were still equal in the eyes of God (Galatians 3:28) although they function differently within the
home and church.
In the New Testament, the roles of husband and wife are symbolic of Christ and His church.
Christian men are to lovingly lay down their lives for their wives (Ephesians 5:25). They still
maintain leadership, but this must be servant leadership. Husbands are not to demand obedience,
but by their humility, they guide. They are to honor their wives (1 Peter 3:7). It is clear that-Biblically--women are not seen as second-class citizens but equal with their husbands and as
heirs with [men] in the grace of life (1 Peter 3:7). The Biblical roles for men continue through
the Old Testament and into the New Testament: man is meant to lead and lovingly serve his wife.
The Bible exalts womanhood in the home and places great value on it (Titus 2, Proverbs 31).
Womans role from creation has not changed. In Titus 2, Paul commends women to love their
husbands and children (Titus 2:4). The older women were to teach the younger women in the
church how to better take care of their families, including taking care of the home (v. 5). Women
are to follow their husbands leadership with respect, choosing to submit to that leadership (Titus
2:5, 1 Pet. 3:1-4). First Peter (I Peter) states that when wives submit to their husbands
leadership, they are doing it as service to God (1 Pet. 3:1-4). A woman can be a great blessing

and help to her husband just as Eve was to Adam at the beginning of creation. Scripture does not
forbid a woman working outside of the home. Some women did appear to have businesses
(Proverbs 31), but a womans first priority is to her husband, family, and home life.
Men and women were created with distinct abilities to fulfill these Biblical roles, and when
husbands and wives follow the Biblical pattern within the home, they bring glory to God as a
picture of Christ and His church.