Submission

What does it mean to be submissive? I know that until recently that word did not sit well with me, it was a word that I saw as a power struggle and one that I would not use. Then I started to research what it means, what God meant when he said in Ephesians 5:22 "Wives submit to your husbands as you do to the Lord". That verse is quoted often, even by people who do not follow God, but the thing about the Bible is it's not meant to be taken one verse at a time, but rather the whole book you find the verse in was written as a letter and intended to be read that way, so when you keep reading the verse after that it says, "For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of his body, the church; He gave his life to be her Savior." Ok, Christ DIED for His bride, the church. The church my friends is you and me, we are the church. Husbands are called to love their wives as Christ loved the church, which was an act of submission on Christ's part till the final end.

So in the way God intended it should look something like this...I submit to you and you submit to me. But what exactly does submission mean? The dictionary in the back of the Bible says this, to be subject to or accountable to another-God, society, fellow believers. Hmm, not exactly the submission definition I'm familiar with, how about you? Submission was never intended to be a sign of weakness, a power struggle, or any form of an abusive nature. It was meant to be an act of love, worship, dedication to those we are in relationship with...to what ever extent.

A husband who comes home after working 12 hours that day, is exhausted and wants to just sit in his chair and withdraw from the world...instead, when he gets home he helps with bath time, kisses his wife because to him she is Beauty, and sits at the table with his family for dinner. He engages himself in his life not because he "has to" but because he wants to, he loves them. THAT is submission and THAT is LOVE! A wife who is exhausted from taking care of screaming kids all day and wants to just get out of the house the minute her husband walks in the in door...instead, she does bath time beside him, she welcomes his kiss because to her he is the knight in shining armor, and she listens to him talk about his day not because she has to but because she wants too...submission...love.

If you give your spouse all you have and seek to meet their needs and they in turn do the same...all the needs are met! Simple? Not in the least. Achievable? Absolutely! As Christians we have what's called the Holy Spirit, you do too, just trust me. So when you're coming up on E on your energy tank instead of giving in to that feeling, ask God, ask the Holy Spirit, to give you His strength so that you may love your family as God intended...in the form of submission.

till next time....