Submission: What it is & What is isn't

What Biblical submission is not:

☛ It does not place women under the subjection of all men.

☛ It does not give men the authority to become dictators, abusers of their wives, or to commit adultery.

☛ It is not surrender, withdrawal, or apathy.

☛ It does not mean inferiority, because God created all people in his image, and all have equal value.

☛ It does not make women the doormat of the family.

☛ It does not give grounds for women to do all the housework and the husband to sit back and give orders.

☛ I will never submit if I am asked to do something against God, for He is my ultimate Authority.
     

What submission is: 

Within the family, God has called the husband to be the spiritual head. This does not imply inferiority on the part of the wife or children by any means. Rather, God had divided the responsibilities of the family between the husband and the wife, and the husband got the spiritual leadership part of this division.

☛ Submission is mutual commitment and cooperation. It is a key element in the smooth functioning of any business, government, or family. God ordained submission in certain relationships to prevent chaos by placing a final decision-making authority.

☛The husband/father will have to answer not only for himself, but also for his family. It will be the husband/father who will be called into account for the decisions that were made within the family concerning you and your children. There are so many things the husband has to consider. The role of spiritual leader requires a lot of sacrifice for his family. You may remember that God went to Adam in the Garden, not Eve, when the fruit from the tree had been eaten.

☛ She does have the command to submit, but think about this: -- we can submit to anybody -- a teacher, a parent, a boss, or whoever. If the husband is following God's will for himself and his family, he will love his wife. He will take the lead in his family. If the husband is not a Christian, Paul said that it is through the Godly walk of the wife that the husband will be won.

Biblical submission will be rejected by people who refuse to submit to God. Although some people have distorted Paul’s teaching on submission by giving unlimited authority to husbands, we cannot get around the fact that Paul told wives to submit to their husbands. Real spiritual leadership involves service. Just as Christ served the disciples, even to the point of washing their feet, so the husband is to serve his wife. A wise and Christ-honoring husband will not take advantage of his leadership role, and a wise and Christ-honoring wife will not try to undermine her husband’s leadership. Either approach causes disunity and friction in marriage.

God did not tell women to submit to their husbands to make them feel inferior or miserable. God did not do it for Himself, because He would get benefit from it. He only asks for us to do things when He knows that it will benefit us in some way. What are some of the benefits of submission?  

1) There will be less strife in the home. 

2) The woman that submits to her husband’s leadership will permit him to lead the family without having his authority placed into question. In other words, by her backing down and permitting her husband to take the lead, will bring out the leadership abilities he was born with.  

3) It will create a less stressful lifestyle, which will be better for your health and happiness and for your husband’s health and happiness.

I hope you find that this is a balanced view of biblical submission and that you will now view the subject from a positive perspective.

~Kindred Spirits Journal, Issue #2, Nov. 2003