Submit???

As I was listening to a Bible study program, I was greatly offended by what I had heard (or at least falsely perceived) of men being acknowledged and praised for competency over women. Not only was I hurt but over the next few weeks, bitterness and resentment toward men seemed to take root and blossom inside of me (even to the point of becoming defensive about everything between men and women, which resulted in me carrying a huge chip around on my shoulder). Surely, I thought women being submissive to men was merely a cultural interpretation of the time period in the Bible, which we are now exempt from, right?


While I must say that any attitude of women being portrayed as less competent than men is not appropriate and is in no way a reflection of God’s character in the Bible. God began to quietly speak to my heart through prayer and Bible study, as I began to search the scriptures for God’s design for a Christian woman’s role in the home and in the church.  [On a side note, while many of you may or may not disagree with the message I am about to portray, I too felt there was much sexism going on within the church. My goal is not to promote my own or any religious/church agenda; the only goal here is to relate what God has shared with me and what is a direct message from His Word. Simply, it’s God’s message and not my own.]

 
Now, as my temper began to fuel against the attitude and stance on a woman’s role within the home and church (along with the divide and attitude that I sensed in the church toward lack of competency in women against men), God began to speak to my heart through prayer and Bible study, as I described earlier. Needless to say, God was definitely working on my heart. As I began to spiritually wrestle with this dilemma, God opened my eyes to His reasoning and design for women to practice submission in the church, as well as the home.
 

Now, I don’t know about other women, but I think of myself as handling most of the responsibilities around my house such as taking care of the kids, grocery shopping, paying bills, cooking, cleaning, ect., and I had bought into the lie of today’s feministic culture that women are somehow more superior (even smarter) then men, even to the point that I had become prideful about my role in the home; however, all of that seemed to change through God’s revelation to me.

As I was searching through scripture, I began to read passages of women being submissive to men and in turn womens' role within the church. My intention for searching through God’s Word was to somehow find evidence for my stance on feminism; however, what I discovered was simply the opposite. I began to read verses such as these below (some of which you are probably already familiar with):

Ephesians 5:22-33, “Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. ²³ 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. ²⁴ Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ²⁶ to make her holy, cleansing^[a] her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷ and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. ²⁸ In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— ³⁰ for we are members of his body. ^{31 ‘}For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’^{[b] 32} This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. ³³ However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”

 

What God began to show me in reading this verse is that there is a constant submission taking place here. We as women are commanded by God to submit ourselves but in return men are to submit to Christ, just as Christ submitted to His Father and gave His life for the church. A three-fold submission is taking place when we as women submit to our husbands, in that as we let go of our pride and arrogance, we are honoring Christ, which sets the scene for our husbands to practice surrender to Christ and godly service and humility in return. As we submit to our husbands, we are honoring Christ and are mirroring His reflection and character, and in return our husbands submit to Christ. As God conveyed to me this message, I began to stand in awe, that His standard is the opposite of pride, rather His standard is humility. James 4:6 says, “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

In pondering on this message further, I began to look at Jesus’ life and character. Not once could I find in scripture of Him reflecting pride but rather constant humility and service, from washing His disciples’ feet to His death upon the cross. Therefore, Jesus was obedient and humble even until His death.


As a Christian, I know that if I am to mirror His character I must come to grips with humility, and humility is no easy task! Therefore, as a Christ follower, when I as a wife and woman in the church practice His design for submissiveness, I am not only being obedient to His Word but I am also practicing the discipline of godly surrender, which is the laying down my own selfish desires and asking God to fulfill His purpose in me.


Although we cannot be responsible for what others do (in this cases our husbands) we can set a godly influence and set the scene for them to be the leaders that God has intended them to be.

So after God began to help me understand His requirements for women being submissive, I began to ask why…because we’re all created in God’s image right?...and in His eyes we’re all equal right? The answer I received was both yes and no, and God clearly showed me why.

Genesis 3:1-19 “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?

² And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; ³ but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

⁴ Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. ⁵ For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

⁶ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

⁸ And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

⁹ Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”

¹⁰ So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

¹¹ And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”

¹² Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”

¹³ And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

¹⁴ So the Lord God said to the serpent:

“Because you have done this,
You are cursed more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you shall go,
And you shall eat dust
All the days of your life.
¹⁵ And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”

¹⁶ To the woman He said:

“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;
In pain you shall bring forth children;
Your desire shall be for your husband,
And he shall rule over you.”

¹⁷ Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:

“Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.
¹⁸ Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.
¹⁹ In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.”

While men and women are both equal under God’s eyes, we must understand that God also first created Adam and then created Eve from man (for the purpose of being a companion and helper that is).

Genesis 2:18,  And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 

Genesis 2:21-23, And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. ²² Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. ²³ And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.”

Therefore, the perfect harmony that was intended to take place between the both men and women all changed because of the Fall of Adam and Eve in the garden.

What God showed me here is that God never designed women to suffer from oppression under men but because of Eve’s disobedience we are living under a curse as a result of the Fall,  in which all of mankind is under (just look around us destruction, disease, and death plague us every day!). Because Eve sinned and took of the fruit and obviously tried to deceive her husband by getting him to eat of the fruit of disobedience as well, a direct result because of that sin is women having to suffer through being denied of God’s original design.

As God opened this message up to me I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders, a weight of feminism that I can no longer carry. While in God’s eyes men and women are both equal, God has a special purpose and design for me as a woman that I should embrace rather than discard.

Humility is, therefore, a service that we should embrace rather than a weakness that our culture tells us to toss aside...
 

Essentially what God shared with me is that God does not love me any less than He does men and His intention was never for women to suffer oppression under the hand of men. Under this very message I was able to experience a refreshing sense and need for real liberation…humble submission.

***Please feel free to leave comments for further discussion and reflection!!!