More on Submission

Col. 3:18

18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

 

More on submission...It appears that submission is a huge part of the Christian walk and is directly opposed to the current way of thinking and living. Not only are wives to submit to their husbands, but in Eph. 5:21 it says, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.  The one another in this verse refers to fellow believers. It is an attitude of honoring one another constantly. No wonder Paul said outdo one another in honor. 

 

Then in Eph. 5:24 it says, Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. The church, the local body of believers must submit to Christ. Somehow this submission is understandable and normally unquestioned since Jesus is God in human form.  Yet Paul is developing a parallel here. As Christ is to God so the church is to Christ so the church members are to God, Jesus, and one another. 

 

Just when I think submission would be fully developed Heb. 13 takes it a step farther.   Heb. 13:17 says, Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. Specifically who are these leaders? Are they leaders in the church or in the work place, or in the government? Earlier in this same chapter verse 7 says, Remember your leaders,those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way, and imitate their faith. Here we are talking about those in leadership in the church, those people who teach us. Not only are we to submit to them but we are to imitate them.

 

Finally, Jas. 4:7 says, Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Haven't we already established submission to God? Yes, but James not only gives the key to submission but he gives a valid reason for this all encompassing act of submission. The reason is that believers are protected against Satan and his temptations. It is as if submission is a shield around me protecting  me on many levels of my life, the home, other believers, the church, and leaders in the church. And most importantly submission to God ties them all together. It unites the entire gift of submission since submitting to God puts all things right in my life.

 

Father,

Give me an attitude of submission. I know that my submission to my husband, fellow believers, or church leaders will never be a reality unless I am submitted to You. Teach me the submissive heart.

In Jesus name,

Amen