Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 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. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
Almost 50 years of hard core feminism have whacked bruises and scars on lovely women of God. Although the first punch happened at the dawning of time when our fore"mother" Eve decided to make a decision on her own, the slippery shiny snake has duped us as well. Why do some steps of obedience seem to be wider than others? "Don't grow weary of doing good," Paul writes in Galatians. So I bake cookies for the new neighbors, sit with my friend's 41/2 month old for a few hours, and help a confused 6th grader with a grammar problem. Then my husband asks me to pick up the books I have left all over the house and sometimes my eyes roll a little and the sarcastic mark I long to make whirls around in my head. Then my Jesus reminds me, "Submit to me, my daughter." Our home is much more joyful when I obey Him.
Society has done all it can to teach me that submission means weakness, but I know that to be a lie. The verse in red above reminds me that I am to submit to my husband as I submit to Christ. How does that look in a world where real women get their own way? Submit? Give up my rights?
What?!?!
I have learned much in my barely 2 years of marriage. I can't complain about not getting married until I was 35 years old. God used those glorious, painful years to teach me much about Himself. One pastor tells of his daughter asking him how she would know that she was ready to begin thinking of marriage. He told her, "When you know you are ready to submit to your husband as unto the Lord, then you are ready." Perhaps that's why I had to wait longer than others. See, I received a rather liberal degree from a moderately conservative school. As an English major, I sat under women professors who had about, oh, a 0% chance of understanding biblical submission. They taught me that to be woman was to be independent. One of my departments heroines said this:
"In my heart, I think a woman has two choices: Either she's a feminist or a masochist." (Gloria Steinem)
How sad for her!
Some women would cringe, but I usually ask my husbands opinion on just about everything. I rarely make a commitment without passing it by him. I often defer questions about our family to him. And, yes, if he tells me not to do something--or to do something--I generally comply. No, neither one of us completely obeys God's word 100% of the time. The joy and love we share, however, grows each day as we seek ways to take the Bible seriously in all aspects of life, and especially concerning our marriage. I see so many women with sad, and often bitter, looks on their faces when they begin to talk about their husband. I witness tears fall when I share how lovingly my husband attends to me. Woman of God, be strong--in the Lord. Love your husband, serve him, respect him! The world has had enough feminism. Without even raising our voices others will see what true submission looks like as we practice in our hearts and in our homes, and I guarantee you that other women will want what you have.
I'm tired of seeing husbands portrayed as wimpy, spineless fools and weary of women who are characterized as the only intelligent creature out there. I love my husband!
Do you love yours? Obey God's word and let him know today.
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