Submit? Who Me?!

Ephesians 5:21- Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ

Ephesians 5:22- Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord   

Ephesians 5:25- Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her



    It was several years ago that I had an unhealthy view of the concept of submission. SUBMIT?! Who, me?! It was almost like a four letter word to me. In my childhood upbringing, I saw submission used as a way to partially control another and I turned bitter against it. I wondered why would God have women become doormats for those that are suppose to love us the most. I knew then, that if that was what submission looked like, then I did not want any part of it. Fortunately, my poisoned views about it were challenged when I became exposed to more positive examples of submission during my time in Houston. Between what I witnessed at church and through some of the people that I met, my perception of it began to change.   I started to study it more in depth in the bible and my understanding of it became more clear. Submission is in God's design for marriage and it is a beautiful thing if done according to how he instructed it.

      A lot of the myths that I had about submission needed to be debunked before I was even ready to consider marriage and although I did not like it at the time, I am glad that I had the time to work through it.   I am still learning along the way, but I am glad that I have a more accurate view of what it is and the great purpose of it.  Through my personal experiences and Pre-marital counseling, here are some of the vital things that I have learned about submission:

* Submission is done Voluntarily. Your spouse is not to force you to submit. It is God's design for the wife to submit to the husband's Godly leadership voluntarily. This is not the same thing as obey.

* Submission in marriage is an example of God's relationship and love for the church.

*Wive's have the main commands from God to submit and respect. The husband has a much more extensive list of commands and responsibilities. They have to be willing to lay down their lives for us and that sounds like a heavier load to carry to me.

* The submission model that God set forth does not make you an inferior or mindless individual, but allows you the ability to fulfill your special role.

* Ephesians 5:21 "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God." There is a mutual submission.

      Submission is such a taboo word to many due to the misconception that has been presented by some faulty preaching and the rampant feminist movement of our society. It will have you to think that in order to be a submissive wife, you must lay down in front of the door and become a doormat, when that is not what it means. In fact the husband's commanded role would never allow for that. Even as newlyweds, submission at times has been a little challenging for me, but I am glad to have a husband who makes it sooo easy for me. With his life being submitted to God, how can I not submit to him as unto the Lord?