Say the word submission, and the women in most households will probably raise their eyebrows at you. Why? This word that simply means yielding to another can have many other, although perhaps not Biblically correct, definitions.
Some Christians believe that submission is a giving up of one's rights, surrendering your own rights and individuality to the will and desires and demands of another. When this belief is taken to extreme, abuse can occur. I don't think God ever intended for the word submit or the word submission to give one person the right to lord over or abuse another person. Biblical submission is something someone does willingly for another out of love and respect for God and for that person. Biblical submission cannot be forced. It must come willingly out of love.
“Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you. Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart. (Job 22:21) (NIV)
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (1 John 4:7-11) (NIV)
God is all about love. God is love, and when He created the world I think one of the main reasons was to share His love with us. God created us all. However, He gives us free will. We are not puppets on a string nor remote controlled robots. No, God wants all of us to seek Him and choose Him, but it is our choice. We must chose to love Him. We must willingly choose to submit to God's authority and His will. When we choose to become Christians, we are willingly submitting to God's will for our lives out of love and respect for Him.
“Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you.” (Job 22:21) (NIV)
“in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:6) (NIV)
“The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.” (Romans 8:7) (NIV)
If we can willingly submit to God's will out of love and reverence for Him, should we not do the same for one another?
“Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Ephesians 5:21) (NIV)
Like I said at the beginning, submitting to someone else should not be something that's forced on someone. It must be their choice to willingly yield to another out of love. That's what God did for us. For God so loved the world that He sent His One And Only Son…. (John 3:16-17) It was not forced on God. No one made Him give up His Son. He did it out of love for us. Can we do the same for one another? Are we willing to submit and yield to one another out of reverence to God and out of love and respect for one another, just as Christ loves us?
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35) (NIV)
“Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.” (Romans 12:10) (NIV)
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” (Philippians 2:3-4) (NIV)
Biblical submission is not about being pushy, aggressive or demanding of one another, rather it's about being mature in the body of Christ.
“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:1-3) (NIV)
I believe when there is mutual respect and love and for one another, over time, love and respect will not diminish. It will increase.
“We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing.” (2 Thessalonians 1:3)
Biblical submission is all about love. He loves us. Can we love each other? That is Biblical submission. Willingly giving to one another out of LOVE
He Loves Us by David Crowder
Be First to Comment