I'll be honest with you -- I struggle with some of what the Apostle Paul has written in Ephesians 5, one of my Bible readings earlier this week. If anyone wants to discuss this section of the greatest story ever told, I'd love to hear what you think.

It's a controversial section of the Bible, I know, but blogging to a small group instead of the whole world is somewhat comforting to me.

In Ephesians 5:1-2, I'm inspired by the way Paul says what I know I should be doing: "... be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." (Revised Standard Version)

Yep, I know I'm supposed to try to keep immorality, impurity, and covetousness out of my life.

But as Paul goes on, it's easier for me to get confused about the roles of men and women in their relationships in marriage and the church. Take Ephesians 5:21-22 and 5:25, for example: "Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, be subject to your husbands, as to the Lord. ... Husbands, love your wives ..." 

I personally believe that this means that women and men should be submissive to each other, giving themselves up for each other -- a wife's strengths can fulfill the weaknesses of her husband and vice versa.

But is what I believe what this verse is saying? What kind of reciprocal relationship is Paul portraying in Ephesians 5?