Colossians 3:18
“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Wives are to give themselves to their husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
What Does Colossians 3:18 Mean?
Paul begins a series of household instructions, addressing each member of the home in turn. He starts with wives: submit yourselves unto your own husbands, ordering this counsel within the marriage relationship.
The qualifying phrase is essential -- as it is fit in the Lord. This is not an absolute or harsh demand but one shaped and limited by what is fitting before Christ, who is Lord over the whole household. Paul addresses wives as moral agents, directly and with dignity, not as property. The instruction belongs to a mutual ordering of the home that he immediately balances with a charge to husbands in the next verse. For the Colossians, the household itself becomes a sphere where life in the Lord is worked out. Even the most ordinary domestic relationships are to be lived under Christ, in a way that honors him.