Submit to me! No “you” submit to “me!”

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

Wives and Husbands

 ²²Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. ²³For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. ²⁴Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

 ²⁵Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ²⁶to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

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Guests were arriving within the hour and the floor still needed to be vacuumed, food needed to be set out but I noticed the dimmer switch that I purchased two weeks prior had not been installed. “This will only take five minutes” I said to myself.

DINK “Uh oh” I thought to myself. Yes I had broken the wire that supplied electricity to that part of the house. The door bell rang as I tore into the wall trying desperately to repair my faux pas. Finally a half hour into the party I got the switch repaired!

• Submitting my will to GOD enables me to hear HIM when HE speaks.
• Submitting to GOD’s ways keeps me out of worry, doubt and fear.
• Submitting my sinful life to GOD actually excites me to do more for HIM.

What a controversial topic. Submitting our wills to each other can sometimes be very difficult, especially when I want to be selfish. When I want to argue with my wife, you can bet I will stir the pot. BUT GOD wants me to seek peace.

• Washing my wife with the word means living my life as an “example” of mercy and grace.
• Presenting my wife as “blameless” means forgiving her shortcomings before GOD in prayer.
• Heading up my wife means worshipping GOD the way HE wants to be worshipped, constantly submitting my will to HIM.

CHRIST gave HIS “life” for me therefore I should give my “wife” to HIM. Since I am the king of making mistakes, I have an obligation to be the first to forgive just as GOD stepped out and did the same for me. Through this example, my wife can see that GOD means what HE says.

It’s quite amazing that I used to think this passage was about my wife submitting to me, when in reality it is saying “submission” is an act of worship and everyone should participate. The more I submit to GOD the easier it will be to submit to “my efforts” of submitting to GOD.

The purpose of submission is not to get “my way” rather it enables me to accept GOD’s ways.

• Are you trying to “get your way” in the marriage?
• Is “submission” to GOD hard for you?
• What part of your life are you trying to hold onto?
• Are you fighting GOD trying to control other people?