|
Submission- What a dirty little word.
by Jennifer Cardinal Ephesians 5:22 "Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord." Candace Cameron Bure has gotten some attention from the media lately in her book , "Balancing It All" , she writes of submitting to her husband. In today's culture the word submission often has a negative connotation. After all, the woman of today is supposed to be "equal" to her male counterpart and the idea of submitting to a man often brings negative images of abuse to mind. God does not give permission for men to abuse their wives in any way shape or form with this verse. As all verses in the bible this verse is just part of a whole. Ephesians 5:22 is followed with: "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her " (Ephesians 5:25) The definition of submission according to Webster's dictionary is "the condition of being submissive, humble, or compliant ". Biblically speaking , as wives we are called to submit to our husbands in marriage. Biblically speaking , husbands are called to love their wives as they would themselves , to give themselves up for her just as Christ did for the church. In a healthy marriage (as it is in God's plan for us) a woman is safe to submit to her husband as he is not ruled by his ego or by selfish desires but by his love for his wife and he ultimately gives himself up for her. Submission does not mean you are weak it means you let go of your own ego for the best of the team , that you humble yourself. God teaches us that often the ways of the world will not line up with His ways. God calls us to be submissive not only to our husbands, but more often the Bible speaks of the importance of us submitting to Him. The world teaches us that submission is to be weak and to give up your rights. Unfortunately I think this verse (along with many others) gets twisted and taken out of context and we infer another meaning into it not designed by God at all. Such a great example of why it is so important to read and really know what God's word says about such things. We serve a God that loves us His instructions are to teach us and to help us not to hurt us or harm us. The word submission has perhaps gotten a bad wrap and maybe we need to change the way we look it. It is not the act of submission that is so wrong but more a question of what or whom we submit ourselves to. I think God knows ultimately that we all ending up submitting to something so He teaches us what healthy, Godly submission looks like. The greatest example we have of submission is that of Christ who sacrificed himself in submission to the will of God the single most powerful and loving act committed in our history was one of humility, surrender, and meekness. Food for thought: What or Whom do you submit yourself to? To contact me please do so at : [email protected] My family and I recently moved across the US from NV to CT. This has brought about great change in our lives as well as in my own personal walk with God. I have re-discovered an old love of mine in this process - writing. I appreciate your feedback. Thanks for reading. [email protected] Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |