a beautiful word
I am coming to discover that one of my favorite words in the Bible is submit. I know that this is one of those words that kind of gets a bad wrap in our culture, even to the point where it is on the level of a four-letter word. Let me give you an example: "Wives submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord." Ephesians 5:22
Whoa. There it is in black and white, that little six-letter word. Submit. Why does this little word cause so much controversy? Why do we struggle so much with this idea? Maybe it is the fact that our human nature rebels against the idea of putting someone in authority over us. Maybe we think that because it tells the wife to submit it somehow makes her inferior or less than the husband as a person.
The problem with that is that I know God better than that. God sees all people as equal in worth. He paid the same price for each of our lives. In fact, no one has done more to give worth and equality to women than Jesus did. So the question that I have to ask is do we really know what it means to submit? Do we really understand this word?
Let's back up a minute to this verse: "submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ." Ephesians 5:21. This is referring to the whole body of Christ, not just to husbands and wives. Somehow this isn't as controversial, yet doesn't it say the same thing, just in a broader context? It is still one person submitting to another person. Same word, same idea, same action.
Okay, now jump forward with me: "who though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." Philippians 2:6-8. I realize that the word submit is not in this passage, but perhaps this gives us a better understanding of what it looks like to be submitted to another's will.
Jesus was God, wholly and completely, yet He chose to submit Himself under the will of the Father. He was completely equal to God, but what did He do? He humbled Himself. He said, "not as I will, but as You will." Matthew 26:39. He became obedient even unto death on a cross.
Submitting is a choice, a choice to lay aside one's self and place another before you. It says that while you are of equal value and worth to the other person, you desire to honor them by choosing to take a following role instead of a leading role. Submitting to another person is humbling yourself.
I desire to live as Christ lived, and He lived a humble life of submission. Every day of His life on earth, He woke and submitted Himself to the Father's plan, and for many years that meant living in anonymity. I'm sure it meant doing daily tasks that He didn't want to do. It meant working hard, obeying His earthly parents, taking care of His family. And ultimately, it meant death on a cross to save all of us. Jesus didn't have to save us, but He chose to submit to the Father's will.
This is why I am coming to love the word submit. I am under God's authority. I am living under His will for my life. I am choosing to follow Him and letting Him lead the way. Deciding to live in submission to God means that I will live in submission to other people who He places in authority over me whether that is a boss, a leader in the church, my parents, or someday my husband.
(Just a clarification: I believe that Jesus is God and therefore equal to God, and that humans are equal to each other. I don't want any of the language I have used to make it seem like I believe that humans are equal to God because we are not and never will be.)
Whoa. There it is in black and white, that little six-letter word. Submit. Why does this little word cause so much controversy? Why do we struggle so much with this idea? Maybe it is the fact that our human nature rebels against the idea of putting someone in authority over us. Maybe we think that because it tells the wife to submit it somehow makes her inferior or less than the husband as a person.
The problem with that is that I know God better than that. God sees all people as equal in worth. He paid the same price for each of our lives. In fact, no one has done more to give worth and equality to women than Jesus did. So the question that I have to ask is do we really know what it means to submit? Do we really understand this word?
Let's back up a minute to this verse: "submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ." Ephesians 5:21. This is referring to the whole body of Christ, not just to husbands and wives. Somehow this isn't as controversial, yet doesn't it say the same thing, just in a broader context? It is still one person submitting to another person. Same word, same idea, same action.
Okay, now jump forward with me: "who though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." Philippians 2:6-8. I realize that the word submit is not in this passage, but perhaps this gives us a better understanding of what it looks like to be submitted to another's will.
Jesus was God, wholly and completely, yet He chose to submit Himself under the will of the Father. He was completely equal to God, but what did He do? He humbled Himself. He said, "not as I will, but as You will." Matthew 26:39. He became obedient even unto death on a cross.
Submitting is a choice, a choice to lay aside one's self and place another before you. It says that while you are of equal value and worth to the other person, you desire to honor them by choosing to take a following role instead of a leading role. Submitting to another person is humbling yourself.
I desire to live as Christ lived, and He lived a humble life of submission. Every day of His life on earth, He woke and submitted Himself to the Father's plan, and for many years that meant living in anonymity. I'm sure it meant doing daily tasks that He didn't want to do. It meant working hard, obeying His earthly parents, taking care of His family. And ultimately, it meant death on a cross to save all of us. Jesus didn't have to save us, but He chose to submit to the Father's will.
This is why I am coming to love the word submit. I am under God's authority. I am living under His will for my life. I am choosing to follow Him and letting Him lead the way. Deciding to live in submission to God means that I will live in submission to other people who He places in authority over me whether that is a boss, a leader in the church, my parents, or someday my husband.
(Just a clarification: I believe that Jesus is God and therefore equal to God, and that humans are equal to each other. I don't want any of the language I have used to make it seem like I believe that humans are equal to God because we are not and never will be.)
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