I never heard my Pastor teach about submission in the 7 years I’ve been attending this church until about a year or so ago. Needless to say, I probably would have gotten up and left because of my past. But something was intriguing about what my pastor thought about submission and I wanted to know why so many married couples seemed so happy together, even my daughter was happy in her new marriage.
After being brought up in the United Pentecostal Church and endured their subservient view of women, I was curious to know how they looked at women. So I stayed to listen…
He started with a quote from an article he read by John Piper, “Submission is the defined calling of a wife to honor and affirm her husband’s leadership, and so help to carry it through according to her gifts.”
I wasn’t too sure about this but I said to myself I would listen to the end so I stayed and he continued, reading 1 Peter 3:1-6.
“In the same way, you wives must accept the authority of your husbands. Then, even if some refuse to obey the Good News, your godly lives will speak to them without any words. They will be won over by observing your pure and reverent lives. Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful. They put their trust in God and accepted the authority of their husbands. For instance, Sarah obeyed her husband, Abraham, and called him her master. You are her daughters when you do what is right without fear of what your husbands might do.”
This was going from bad to worse for me. I refuse to call some man my Master….then pastor surprised me and said he knew what every woman in the place was thinking and to be patient it wasn’t what we thought. He then went back to the article by John Piper and said he was going to tell us what submission was NOT. Submission was NOT? I was all ears and wanted to hear this…
Submission is….
1. Not agreeing on everything. The wife who is a believer has sworn allegiance to Jesus Christ and he is her Lord and King. It is possible to be submissive and refuse to think what your husband says you should think about. God has made us with a mind, we can think, we can plan and reason.*
2. Not leaving your brain at the altar. Any man who says “I do the thinking in this family!” is sick and has a warped view of his authority. Before you go to the altar you need to agree it’s okay to disagree. When a decision can’t be made the husband has the final say.*
3. Not stopping to influence your husband to become a believer. God says you can win your husband by your submissive attitude.*
4. Not putting the will of your husband before the will of God. Jesus is your Lord and for his sake, you will submit to your husband. But Jesus is your Lord and Savior and when you have to choose between the two, you will choose Christ. You don’t do this with an arrogant attitude but a meek one, letting your husband know you can’t do what he suggested.*
5. Not getting your spiritual strength from your husband. Your hope is in Christ, you attend church, pray and study the Word. Your strength comes from the Lord.*
6. Not living or acting in fear. You are a God-fearing wife and you are fearless. Husbands are called to a unique kind of leadership in marriage and the wife is called to a unique kind of submission. It can be a wonderful marriage, a unique and blessed partnership.*
Of course the pastor gave me a lot to think about and maybe ….just maybe….my thinking about submission could change, especially after he ended his sermon with the rest of the chapter…
“In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered.” 1 Peter 3:7 NLT
Now I like that!
*information came from article by John Piper, “Six Things Submission Is Not” and my sermon notes from 4/24/17.
Submission? Is It For Today? Part 1
********
Shop at our Amazon store! As an Amazon Influencer, this website earns from qualifying purchases.
