Submission

As a continuation of last week’s blog, I’m going to wade into that mine field of topic; “submission.” First, we must realize that there is a Biblical mandate for submission. We are all to submit to God, governmental authorities, church leaders, employers and each other as Christians. This is not always an easy thing to do – especially for certain personality temperaments. Submission is a matter of humility and considering others better than ourselves as seen in Philippians 2:3. Brothers and sisters; this should be our aim in life! Christ came to this earth not to be served, but to serve (Mat. 20:28) and we are to grow into His likeness. It does not mean we are timid, subservient creatures, but like Christ, we are to be totally and completely submitted to God and His will for our lives.

Everyone will agree with the fact that, Biblically, we are to submit, but now we get to the sticky part; ‘wives submitting to their husbands.’ It is not a popular statement in today’s culture, but Ephesians 5:22, Colossians 3:18, Titus 2:5 and 1 Peter 3:1 all point out that wives are to submit to their husbands. This is also Biblical folks! Like it or not, and argue all you want whether the Greek word “kefaleé“ means “head” or “source,” the fact is wives are called to submit to their husbands. Why? Ephesians 5:23 states that, “the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church.” This does not mean that the wife is subservient to the husband – she is one with him, they are equal, but the husband is to be the leader, demonstrating submission by his submission to God and leading his family in God’s ways. When both husband and wife are submitted to God, submission between them is not going to be a problem!

Speaking directly to wives; you are to respect your husband (Eph. 5:33) and build him up, being his strength, his strong right arm. Do you do that? Or are you the nagging, hounding wife trying to get his attention by bringing up the same things over and over and over again? Proverbs 27:15-16 says that, “A quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping on a rainy day; restraining her is like restraining the wind or grasping oil with the hand.” Proverbs speaks of quarrelsome wife five times. Yes, a wife must confront sin and misguided decisions and between two Christians he is to listen to her, but too many wives are quarrelsome and nagging, rather than uplifting and bringing her husband good not harm (Prv. 31: 12). You are to be a team, working together meeting the demands and challenges of life. The submitted wife works with her husband, not against him.