Just mention the word “submission” in today’s society and immediately, you will have people become confrontational while stating their opinions/beliefs on the topic... It often brings to mind —weakness and male dominance but in reality, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Submission in marriage is God’s beautiful design of partnership. Just because the world believes something different doesn’t make it true.
Submission actually is a wonderful principle that everyone is commanded to practice. Every Christian has been commanded to submit to God (James 4:7). Parishioners are called to submit to their church leaders and to obey them (Heb 13:17). Citizens have been instructed to submit to those authorities in government (Rom 13; 1 Pet 2:13). So submission, in and of itself, is not a bad thing. It’s not evil nor is it harmful to us like we are told by society.
It definitely is not a concept given by God to make women’s lives miserable.
There are different occasions that we all understand where submission is a given. For instance, in the workplace, the boss is the leader and the employees follow the instructions of the leadership. We obey the laws because we know that there is an authority (the police) that are there to enforce them... So in essence, we submit to the authority of police officers each time we get behind the wheel of our car. We submit ourselves the pastor of our church by accepting his message and by being accountable to him.
God designed distinctions in role and function: “Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ” (1 Cor 11:3). The idea of “head” or “headship” signifies authority. It’s not a bad thing. There is authority in the workplace. There is authority in government. There is authority in the local church. So why is there any wonder that God would commission authority in the home? Being submissive does not mean the wife is less important or to be looked down upon! While remaining equal in person, worth, and dignity, there are still differences in role and function and in the responsibilities that exist. And that’s where submission comes in when dealing with marriage. In the Bible, God calls the wife to submit to her husband.
God says: Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord (Eph 5:22). In another place, God says: Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fit in the Lord (Col 3:18). Submission is commanded by God of all Christian wives to their husbands. God is a God of order... He has a set plan of how things are supposed to work.
The way that God describes a woman’s role of submission is so amazing. It’s far deeper than simple acquiescence. Submission is not the same thing as just blind obedience nor is it simply doing everything your husband says without question. Anyone could be forced to obey. But submission, at its very basic level, is an attitude of your heart. Yes, a wife can obey her husband outwardly while hating every second of it . This can never be true biblical submission though ...Not her heart is angry and bitter inside.
God calls us Christian women to submit to our own husbands-- and we are to do it “as to the Lord” (Eph 5:22). This changes the act of submitting into the act of worshipping. The way we as wives submit to our husbands is the way we are actually submitting to the Lord. Wow! That hits close to home, doesn’t it? I have seen a lot of women who say they love the Lord with their whole hearts, yet refuse to submit to their husbands and get under his leadership in their homes. (John 14:15 reminds us—(Jesus speaking —If ye love me, keep my commandments....then jumping down to verses 23-24 -Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings…)
So just in how we handle God’s commandments can tell a lot about the condition of our own hearts. If we ‘buck’ against the plan God has already laid out for us, we are “telling on” ourselves. There is something deep down inside our souls that needs to be fixed.
It is God’s desire for us women to submit both willingly and joyfully. Only women who have been saved by God’s grace can fully do this—
Only when God has changed our sinful hearts, and has given us His Spirit to dwell inside our souls are we able to truly submit to our husbands....
We also should submit UNCONDITIONALLY. Have you have heard some lady say “I’ll submit to you if you do...” No! The Bible knows no conditions! The only exception that the Bible ever provides for not submitting to the authority over you (whether it be the government, church leaders, or a husband) is if you are being instructed to sin against the Word of God. In such a case (and only in that case), the Godly wife must choose to obey God rather than a man. But our personal preferences, our opinions, even our feelings, or our emotions don’t constitute as biblical reasons to not submit to our husbands. Wives, God calls us to submit to our husbands. This is His commandment to us...Submission pleases Him and by submission to His will and His plan, we are worshipping HIM in our everyday lives.
We must submit with our whole hearts. We need to strive to make it our goal to submit to our husbands with a happy heart. We can trust that God’s ways are best. And even in those times when we don’t feel as though our husbands deserve our submission, remember that we are submitting to our husbands trusting that God knows what works best much better than we could ever know...and there is great joy found in yielding to God rather than doing what seems easy in the moment. To submit with a whole heart means that our fleshly carnal man must be transformed daily by the Word of God so that the way that we think, the way that we respond, the way that we communicate, and the way that we conduct ourselves is guided by, governed by, and guarded by God’s Word. The more that we immerse ourselves in the Word, the more we will do what God calls us to do in each role in which He has commissioned us for -- and we will do it with all our whole heart! (Colossians 3:17- And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. In another place, Colossians 3:23-24 —And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.…)
While it is much easier to submit to a Godly husband, remember, there are no perfect husbands in this world... we must give them grace as well. We can trust that God will deal with our husbands and will direct them in their role in the home. We can trust God to take care of it. (He doesn’t need us to “help” Him out!)
There is so much power in submission
but it is a daily choice to follow God’s path regardless of how we may feel... or what society tells us is right...
May God enable us as Christian wives to submit to our husbands with happy hearts -- for His glory!
-Tiphanie
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