“Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.” (Colossians 3:18)

One thing that we can learn from bees on teamwork is that it takes clear roles. You see, in the bee colony there are worker bees, drones and a queen bee. Each of these has a clear role and responsibility for the sake of the hive. In families, there are roles too. Colossians 3:18 explains: “Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.”

Husbands are to lead out in loving their wives just as Christ loved the church. He is to speak God’s Word into her life, lift her up as a priority prayer to the Lord, and serve her just as Christ served the church. Wives are to respond to their husbands love with respect and service, just as the church responds with love, respect, and service to Jesus. Children are to honor and obey their parents, to submit to their parents’ role of responsibility over and care for them as directed by the Lord. And when these roles are lived out in the home, then the beehive will be happy in BEE-ing together.

In the beehive, if roles are refused, the colony becomes dissatisfied and there will be a swarm, which will cause the hive to collapse and eventually die. In the family, when these Lord-directed roles are refused, members can also become dissatisfied. If not addressed, it can lead to homes that are cold, unloving and dysfunctional. For such dysfunction, the warm love of Jesus brings restoration of these roles and new life for the home.

His forgiveness is where it starts. Restorations of roles sometimes requires additional helpers such as pastors, counselors, relationship coaches, and other mentor couples. These are other bees who also have God-given roles to help heal hives and homes so that we can BEE-together.

Prayer
Lord, bless our families with love, with respect, and the willingness to serve one another in the roles that You have us as You have taught us. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.