A women being submissive to her husband is a concept that is often rejected by the world today. Man has tainted what used to be a beautiful expression of the order God has placed in a godly marriage and family, to be one of inferiority and weakness. However, God desires that we allow His Spirit to reveal to us the joy, strength, and unity that can be found in biblical submission. You may be wondering and asking yourself, what is this so called biblical submission. The answer to your question lies in the depths of God’s holy word, not in man’s reasoning, or the products the world promotes.We must first direct our attention to the definition of submission. The dictionary defines it as an act of one person giving or yielding oneself to the power or authority of another. If we pick apart this statement we will unfold some profound truths. Submission is not taken by force but is willingly given. By exploring the Bible we can see a couple examples of biblical submission. However, before I expound any further on this idea, I must state there are multiple forms of biblical submission and is not merely limited to a relationship between a man and a woman.
Jesus is the ultimate example of complete submission. He is as much God as God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, but He willingly laid aside His will and took on the will of the Father. We see this in Luke 22:41-42,
“And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, saying ‘Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless, not my will, but Thine, be done.’”
In John 10:17,18, Jesus says,
“For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”
Jesus was explaining to us that God never forced Him to give his life but the love and commitment Jesus had with His Father drove Christ to lay His life down. Jesus was in a covenant with His Father and was not willing to allow even death to come between their unity with one other. These two passages hold the key to every successful relationship both in a marriage with a man and your marriage with God. When a woman enters into a marital covenant with a man, she lays down her will at the altar and takes on her husband’s will, just as Christ laid down His on the Cross and took on the will of His Father.
This decision is not built upon force but upon the foundation of agape love. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 states that love is patient, kind, and long-suffering; it is not easily provoked. Women must obtain the same mindset Christ had toward His Father, that, no matter what crosses lie ahead, she will not allow anything to come between the unity between her and her spouse. She must hold fast to the commitment she made at the altar, “till death do we part.”
Another important example is the submission of the Church to Jesus Christ. Every man and woman has at least one opportunity in their lifetime to respond to the gift of salvation. Those who choose to believe enter into a covenant with Christ. They no longer are two but become one. John 15:4,
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.”
Jesus gives us the free will to walk down the isle and to receive Him at the altar. Many will stumble down the isle and many will simply turn away. However, those who continue on in faith and love will lay down their wants, desires, dreams, and even their life, to take upon them the life of Christ. At every altar there is a death of one life and a beginning of another. This is why God puts such an emphases on marriage. The man proposes marriage to the woman and gives her free will to either walk away or accept the proposal. As she walks down the isle she has the decision to turn away, but if she goes forth to the altar, at that moment she lays her life down to take on the life of that man. A woman’s commitment to God will mirror her commitment to her husband. A wise man once said, “If you take a single piece of thread and attempt to break it, you will succeed, nevertheless, if you take multiple threads woven and knitted together and try to break them, you will fail miserably. A marriage woven together with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, will not be easily broken.”
Looking at both Christ and the Church we can clearly in vision God’s reality of biblical submission. It is not something that we should look down upon or scorn, for it takes courage, love, strength, and commitment to lay down one’s life, figuratively or literally, for the sake of another. Though, this idea of submission has been rejected among the women in the world, God desires that every woman carry out His will of submission to both Him and their spouse.
From Katie Leighann May
Learning With Lovell 