Me Submit? No Way?  Yes Way?

Me Submit? No Way? Yes Way?     

Before you go running through the woods screaming with your hair on fire, please wait until you hear me out …or read me out.

I truly believe Adam and Eve had this going before they chose to try to be their own gods rather than submitting to the Creator God who gave them life and love. Mutual submission would have been their relationship M.O.

BUT:

Maybe you hear this often, but my guess is that it has been a while since you considered what God means by submission.  In the passage foundational to this 52 Week Plan, submission is the key to understanding both the husband‘s and the wife’s role in married life.  I have copied the passage at the bottom of the page if you would like to read it.  It is 1 Peter 3:1-7.

Peter writes in the previous two chapters of his letter proclaiming how precious is the salvation we have been offered by the Father through faith and submission to His way to forgiveness.  Jesus deserves for us to submit to Him and do whatever He says because He bought forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life with His own blood on the cross.  We weren’t purchased/redeemed by silver and gold, because there isn’t enough wealth in the universe to pay for off our sin debt.  We owed God an infinite amount because of sin.  We had no ability to pay the debt.  Jesus’s righteous blood was spilled to cancel the debt we owed.  What a painful, ultimate price He paid. 

Now that we see how much God can be trusted, submission to those He commands seems a small price to pay.  Ephesians 5:21 is the apostle Paul’s way of expressing this truth:  “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

This Is My Shot At Explaining What Submission Is and Is Not.

·      Biblical submission is mutual respect and humble yielding to God’s will over my own.

·      It is putting the needs of another above my own for the purpose of submitting to God.

·      It is recognizing God’s design for leadership in the home which is delegated ultimately to the husband but includes input and counsel from the wife.  

·      It is leading as a servant to my family rather than a dictator or ruler over the family.  Humility not pride is the quality promoted in submission.

·      Submission involves mutual loyalty and voluntary sacrifice for the good of the other.

·      Submission has nothing to do with inferiority or superiority of one spouse.  Submission has to do with position in the structure of family or organization not value of the person.

·      Submission does not mean living in the fear of abuse – physically, emotionally, or spiritually.

When two people live in Christ-honoring submission to God and to one another, a beautiful, living sculpture is formed for the world to admire and enjoy.  That family sculpture becomes a living work of art showing how Christ submitted to His Father and how love is expressed even during times of conflict and resolution.

Simply put:  the husband submits to God and puts his wife’s needs above his own.  He cares for here as much as he cares for his own body making sure her needs are priority above his own.  

The wife submits to God and places her life under the leadership of her husband by putting his needs above her own.  When the two worlds collide, there is a willingness to talk it out, pray it through, and find God’s will, to the best of their ability.  

Real-Life Example

Carol and I have been learning this principle over our whole married life of almost 50 years.   Several times – and I mean several times, we have come to junctures where we disagreed as to the next steps, regarding parenting, ministry direction, job selection, moving, or finances, etc.  In these ways we are a typical married couple.  We learned to express our opinions, listen to the other one’s side, discuss pro’s and con’s, submit the decision to prayer then come back together.  When we could not reach the same conclusion, Carol would yield to me to make the final call and “submitting to her husband”, she put the ultimate responsibility on me.  That didn’t make me feel superior.  It made me realize that I needed to make sure to the best of my discernment, that I was hearing from and following God’s direction.  It scared me into submission to God because I didn’t want to be wrong and lead my family in a wrong direction. 

So, here is 1 Peter 3:1-7

3 Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, ² when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. ³ Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. ⁴ Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. ⁵ For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, ⁶ like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. 

⁷ Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.