Submission

Submission can be a dangerous word. Submitting to someone is very serious. Submitting is difficult, period.

And yet, it's the only hope our marriage to Christ has.

Don't get me wrong, I don't use the word, submission, lightly...and I don't use it in a negative light, though I'm sure it can be seen by some that way.

The word submit doesn't appear much in scripture. But it does appear in the letter to the Ephesians (in chapter 5:21). "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ."

To submit means, "to place yourself under something, to give allegiance, to tend to the needs of, to be responsive."

Part of being called to follow Christ is following His example, His sacrifice, His giving His life for ours. In layman's terms, people are worth dying for.

That's right, I said it and meant it, people are worth dying for.

One of my favorite Disney movies is Hercules. There's this part that always touches my heart the most it's a moment where Hercules jumps into the "river of death" to free the soul of the girl that he loves. Admittedly he doesn't die, but he had been willing to die for her. And we are called to an even higher standard, an even greater love...we aren't just called to die for those we love the most....

And I know that I'm not the only one that stirs in moments like that, like the scene in Hercules...why are those moments so powerful? Because we know it to be true. And when we see it happen, it awakens a strength in our hearts too.

Jesus said that there was no greater love a person could have than to lay down their life for another. So if we know that's true...than we can and do agree that people are worth dying for.


Off topic aren't we Daniel?

Nope. Because dying to ourselves in no different than dying a physical death...both mean letting go.

Die to yourself so that other people can live.

Admittedly, the verses in Ephesians 5 that I'm looking at start explaining that the wife must submit to her husband. But it continues on to state that husbands should love their wives in the same way that Christ loved the church...and gave himself up for her.

Tracking with me yet?

Christ's "headship" comes from his giving himself up for the church, his bride, us.

His sacrifice.

His surrender.

His willingness to give himself away for her. For you. For me.

His death.

Jesus is ultimate example of Submission. One word: Crucifixion

So ultimately, whatever authority the word "head" carries with it is rooted in the sacrifice of Christ, and therefore the sacrifice of each of us that believe we are over or above anyone else.

This is one of the reasons why I love Jesus so much. He's so...well...full of paradoxes. :)


When we wait for someone to submit to us...we are actually failing to lead. We start to believe we are strong leaders, but in reality we are weak and misguided. True leadership and responsibility requires us to surrender what we want from someone...even if we lose what we wanted.

Can you surrender your desires, wants, and plans for someone else?

In a relationship between husband and wife, can he die to his need to be in control and do whatever it takes to serve her, to make sure she has everything she needs. For that would be dying to himself so that she could live. Btw, Fireproof is an excellent movie that shows the true meaning of learning to submit in love....

"But Daniel...I'm not married...stop bringing up scenarios that don't apply..."

Wrong. Each of us is the bride of Christ. So we've already been the recipient of this love, this submission.

And in the same way, each of us lives a life as a "husband" figure, at least metaphorically. Every one of us will at some point in one of our relationships...be some sort of "head". And in that moment, can we die...so they can live?

Think about your closest friendships. The ones that have been through the fire. How often do you ask who's in charge? Hopefully never. Over time you've built up trust and love and power and control are irrelevant. When we start mutually submitting to each other...being in charge no longer matters.

And now, the last paradox of the night. I have a ring that I wear, it has a Scripture/ poetic phrase written in Hebrew on it. The phrase?

"I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine."
I wear the ring to remind me of one very important thing:

Nobody belongs to themself. I don't belong to me, I belong to God and to those that I care for. I therefore must willingly die to myself everyday...so that those that God has put in my life can live their lives the way they've been called to.

Submission and death lead to power and life.