This “daughter of the king” theology (really heresy) has been taught for many years by both conservative and liberal Christian women. And this teaching has been extended to men being taught that “Husbands should treat their wives as daughters of the king”. In other words, husbands should treat their wives as princesses.
In her book “Everyday Princess: Daughter of the King”, Sheila Keckler Butt writes the following:
“Young ladies: Wouldn’t it be awesome to be a real princess… not just for a day… or for a month… but for everyday… forever?! God invites as to be just that, and then gives us the perfect instruction manual for becoming His child and living like a courageous daughter of The King.”
But the truth is that nowhere, not one time in the Scriptures, are Christian women referred to as “Daughters of the King” or as princesses.
Christians Have One Prince and That is Jesus Christ
The Bible calls us “the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26). And it also says God “predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself” (Ephesians 1:5). So, we as believers are adopted children of God through faith in Jesus Christ – Amen.
The Bible calls us as Christians “a royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9) and says that we are citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20).
But the Bible never ever refers to Christians as princes or princesses. Only Jesus Christ is called a prince in relation to God:
“The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.”
Acts 5:30-31 (KJV)
Does the Bible Tell Husbands to Treat their Wives as Daughters of the King or Princesses?
Nowhere does the Bible say what we see on Instagram, Facebook pages or Christian blogs that husbands should treat their wives as “daughters of king” aka princesses. But rather, this is how the Bible actually tells husbands to treat their wives:
“Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.”
1 Peter 3:7 (KJV)
The Bible teaches us that men are to honor their wives as “the weaker vessel” and if their wife is a Christian, they are to honor her as a fellow heir of eternal life. Neither this passage, or any other passage of the Bible tells men to honor their wives as “daughters of the king” or “princesses of God”.
But while the Bible never refers to Christians as princes or princesses it does in fact refer to husbands as the earthly lords (masters) of their wives:
“For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.”
1 Peter 3:5-6 (KJV)
Conclusion
God has given women an important part to play in his creation plan. He has made woman beautiful for man, to bring man pleasure, to bear and care for his children, to keep his home and submit to and serve him (Song of Solomon 4:7, Proverbs 5:18-19, 1 Timothy 5:14, Ephesians 5:22-24).
The modern “daughter of the king” teaching which is popular among Christian women today is just another way of elevating women to a place God never meant them to be in.
The Bible does not teach that husbands should treat their wives as “daughters of the king” but it does teach women to treat their husbands as their masters (1 Peter 3:5-6).
To listen to hundreds of podcasts about gender roles, masculinity, femininity, courting, marriage and sex all from a Biblical perspective go to BGRLearning.com and subscribe today.
Biblical Gender Roles 
My wife insists, even after my challenging her to find it, that somewhere in the bible it states that husbands are to fulfill their wives every desire. What has the years of “women’s bible study” done for her? Why do these studies always “study” the exact same books and people in the bible? Did I say people? I mean, the exact same books and women?
can you reply me? i just want to know whether you are still active or not,Because it seems like YogiOabs is quitting from defending Biblical Gender 😦
I don’t think it’s heresy to call women “daughter of the King.” Nor would I give anger to men being called “sons of the King.” You’re adopted in the family of God when you become a believer.
Romans 8:17 says that if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. I think maybe that’s where the idea of being a “prince or princess” comes from.
I’m pretty old-fashioned, and I don’t agree with many of Christians in this day and age about things. But telling a husband, “Hey, your wife is a daughter of the King,” isn’t really meant to be used to tell a husband he has no authority. I think it’s just a reminder of who’s been placed in charge of. She’s a woman. But under Christ, she’s also his sister in Christ and she is an adopted daughter of the Lord of Lords.
Likewise, women who are told their husbands are “sons of the King” need to be remember what this entails. It means he’s your lord, your head, and he’s your representative of Christ on earth. If he’s a true follower of God, he’s going to make it his mission to lead well and not be abusive. He’ll make mistakes but so will you.
I’m a big fan of your blog, BGR. But I think you might be reaching a bit with this one by saying someone who tells a woman she’s a daughter of the King is committing heresy (and I mean no disrespect).
Also, it wasn’t until recently that the monarchy didn’t care about the gender of whom the next heir was. Males have always been given precedence in the succession line. So even if a woman says she’s a princess of God, she’s still under the authority of the prince of God – her husband. And even more, they’re both under the Crown Prince, Himself, Christ Jesus.
I’ve got to agree with Wanderer on this. No disrespect meant whatsoever, but this is a bit reaching. Believers are all one – sons and daughters – in Christ, who is King of kings and Lord of lords. Now, can this phrase go to a woman’s head and be misused- of course it can, because we (women AND men) are both sinners. This is just like saying a man is the head of the woman, and a woman is to submit “in everything” to her husband can be misused by men for evil to truly abuse those under his authority. However, the unfortunate reality of the evil that can come from these truths does not mean we ignore and try to erase those truths the feminism has.
wanderer, it sounds like you’re just missing a context that the author has. people DO abuse this concept to tell husbands to treat their wives like “princesses” moreso than “subjects.”
Kvn,
I had not seen that about YogiOabs – I do see his youtube channels no longer have any content and he has not posted anything to instagram since January. Have you seen something where he said why he was quitting?
Kvn,
And yes I am very much still active. But remember that I have many different extensions of my ministry. I am most active on my Instagram arm of my ministry as I feel I am reaching the most young people there (teens and young married couples). I am somewhat active on Facebook (but not nearly as much as Instagram) and I a post a couple articles here a month. I also usually publish a few podcasts a month to my podcast site BGRLearning.com.
And I am working on my first book. I have already mapped out the 10 chapters I will be writing and have finished the first introduction as well first three chapters. I am about half way through the 4th chapter. I write more as time permits. But no, I have no plans to quit this ministry that God has given me.
@ YoreyC
I’m not missing the context. I understand that people misuse the idea of a woman being a “princess” in Christ. And I can why that frustrates people – especially conservative Christians who want to see a return to God’s plan for marriage.
But BGR also argued that women shouldn’t be called it at all, nor should they ever see themselves as princesses or daughters of the King. That’s where I disagreed with him. I think a godly husband who looks at his wife as a daughter of the Most High God is going to see just how big a responsibility he has in his marriage. He’s not just leading some random woman that was grabbed off the street. He’s been placed in charge of a woman who has a Heavenly Father who wants to see her submit and revere her husband. And I think that should make him strive to seek God’s will for him and his marriage because he wants what’s best for God’s daughter.
So I don’t disagree with BGR in that this whole daughters of the King philosophy has been abused and turned into something it shouldn’t be. But that doesn’t mean a woman shouldn’t find great joy in being a daughter of the King. She should still know her place, though.
Wanderer,
Us being joint heirs with Christ does not make us princesses or princes any more than a woman being a joint heir with her husband (1 Peter 3:7) makes her a master like he is. We are all heirs of God’s blessings together with Christ. And we as the forgiven are heirs of the grace of life (eternal life). 1 Peter 3:7 tells husbands to honor their wives as the weaker vessel (for the part she plays in God’s creation as their wife and mother to their children) and as a fellow heir of eternal life. And if the man does not do these things – his prayers will be hindered. That should be enough for a man to treat his wife in right. She does not need to have the title of “daughter of the king” or “princess” as this is not the basis on which the Bible tells a husband to honor his wife.
And a husband is not his wife’s earthly lord on the basis that he is a “son of the king”, he is his wife’s earthly lord because God has established man to have dominion over woman from the beginning of creation (Genesis 3:16). In fact, all men are their wives’ earthly lords whether they are a Christian (and son of the king) or not.
glad you are still active 😉