Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Ephesians 5: 22-24, NIV.
Here we are once again dear LORD, Waiting to hear Your voice; waiting to learn from You. Please come close and teach us. This we ask in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Today we will continue with the counsel to the wife to be submissive to her husband. We will pick up where we left off yesterday: “Submitting to a loving, understanding, husband, who respects our opinion, is not hard. However, the act of submission, on the part of a woman, is not a thoughtless, robotic, action. It is a well thought-out process, that is encouraged, by the love and respect of the person to whom she submits.”
I chose to go back to that last statement, because in the topic of submission, we tend to overlook a most important factor; that a woman submits to her husband – “as to the Lord;” “as the church submits to Christ[.]” Women are not called to submit blindly, but thoughtfully! If we are to submit a certain way, then we must first understand that way. Let us observe how people came to the Lord, and how they submitted to His will.
They were invited to join Him. “As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ‘ “Come, follow me,” ‘ Jesus said, ‘ “and I will make you fishers of men.” ‘ At once they left their nets and followed him. When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him” (Mark 1: 16-20). . . . “As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. ‘ “Follow me,” ‘ Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him” ‘ ” (2: 14).
I am impressed by the percentage of success Jesus had, in getting his disciples to follow Him. There must have been something special about the way He invited them, that, all of them, immediately, left what they were doing, or who they were with, and followed Him. I believe He inspired trust. I believe He was thoughtful and respectful. These impressions, are inspired, in part, by the words of Peter to the Savior, “Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you” (Luke 18: 28, emphasis provided).
No one leaves all they have, to follow someone, unless that someone is worthy of the sacrifice. Submission, could become a form of leaving all. In submitting, many times we leave behind us, our way of life, in order to adopt the other person’s way of life. We sometimes leave our neighborhood to move into theirs, or, into an entirely new environment. Sometimes, in submitting, we leave our old reliable support system, not completely out of our lives, but so far behind that it hurts! It is as if we were saying, “I believe that what I will receive from you, is going to be worth all that I am giving up. I am leaving all, and cleaving to you, with my all.”
Most wives are aware that there has to be a leaving, for the cleaving, to take place. What should be made very clear, is that leaving, is by no means, abandoning. Neither should individuals undergo a metamorphosis. Relationships should not be abandoned, nor personalities altered, as a result of marriage. There is no need for it.
In the case of the disciples, note that even though they left all they had, they did not leave all they were! Their characters were eventually perfected, but they were the same individuals! Peter was still a very impulsive, person. Only now, all of that energy was being channeled in a positive direction. On the Day of Pentecost, hear him as he responds to the accusation of the crowd, and then go on to preach one of his best sermons ever – and with what results (Acts 2: 13-40)! Submitting does not mean losing our individuality.
Note also, that leaving all they had, did not include their families of origin. “Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus about her. So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them” (Mark 1: 30, emphasis provided). It is obvious that though the disciples spent much time with the Master, they were kept abreast of what was happening in their extended families. Visiting and keeping in touch with family and friends, is both healthy and helpful! Having dinner with them occasionally helps to strengthen family ties. Submitting does not mean severing the ties with our families of origin. (We will say more about families of origin, and extended families at a later date.)
Husbands, perhaps it is the way you ask your wives to join youon livfe’s journey, that will make their submitting to you a delight, or not. If you ask Jesus to teach you how, I am sure He will.
NOTE: These counsels are shared from a Biblical, not a clinical, perspective.