I am excited about this new meme, Marriage Monday, created by Chrysalis...it seems this appears every first and third Monday and this week is a topic that has really given me much to think about!
Welcome to Marriage Monday
How Marriage Works:21 Secrets Every Couple Needs to Know
Secret #10: A Wife’s Submission Empowers Her Husband
Q. Why all the fuss about submission? Is it really relevant in today’s egalitarian society?
Our hostess has given us a few writing prompts to guide our thinking and I'll share them with you...
1. Define the Greek word for submission, "hupotasso" [hoop-ot-as-so].
2. Tell us a story. Show how your submissive attitude blessed your husband on a specific occasion.
3. Expound this biblical passage: Ephesians 5:22-33.
4. Discuss what the Bible has to say about submission outside of marriage
e.g. to bosses, political leaders, and other authorities.
SO I looked up submit from the following verse 1Peter 2:13 "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king, as one in authority...". IN this case the word submit means to yield to.... or subject to... according to the Key word Study Bible of the Hebrew and Greek Lexicon...
Vine's Expository Dictinary lists Subjection as a primarily military term to rank under... as in Eph. 1:22-23 which details God's plan for establishing order in the world..
22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. This them continues in Eph 5:22-23...
22 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. So how do I take this idea of being subject to my husband ... yielding to him????
Seeing this from God's perspective is very different from how the world perceives this... The world would say " who is the husband to "Lord" it over the wife.... this is just short of a husband enslaving a woman keeping her in her place and how does the equal rights amendment fit into this kind of marriage....
Frankly, I grew up in a family where the man deferred to the wife more than he should... My mother was strong force and my father did not actually practice Ephesians 5:23 in our home... and so anyone who visited with us for any amount of time would attest that our home was often filled with strife and bickering.... nothing so serious to cripple the family.. but I was raised to never see God's perfect plan for the family... this is an area in my life where I had to learn the long hard way about what godly submission is....and what it is not....
First of all it is not a forced type of submission... is not a Lording it over on the woman ...far from it... one can look to the rest of the text in Ephesians 5...."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 26to make her holy, cleansing[b] 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..". and then " 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. "
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing[b] 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..". and then " 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. "
There is nothing here to even remotely suggest a ruling over kind of submission.... but I can see that in God's holy order for the family by placing the man at the head he is also given him the awesome task of keeping the family together... providing for and making wise judgments for the family pertaining to every need and decision... the man is under God's authority to serve his family to the best of his ability.. Fatherhood and husbandry should never be taken lightly... and I love the verse 28.. where the man is love the wife as God loves the church.... that is an awesome love.... not one of enslavement or forcefulness but tenderness yet sacrifical love...
So what about the wife and her submission... she is to be subject to her husband.. yielding to him .... I find this very comforting... knowing that if the man is living a godly life before God in his role then I can rest assured of a peaceful loving home.... it is easy for me to do verse 33.. to respect my husband when I see him serving the family under the direct headship of the Father.... oh, if only this ideal from the scriptures was a typical family in today's society...!!!!
My mother joined the work force in the late 50's which put more money in our family coffers, but put a stress on the family as well... she had to put in the work hours then come home and cook, wash, clean, and sew for the family and she put in many many long hours..... and I believe that with this divided role of the working wife and mother she learned to push her opinions into the mix as what society was demanding was her right.... and that slippery slope has entrenched itself into the mainstream for so long that today God's plan is so very far from what is the expected it is now considered abnormal.... a housewife is considered less than ambitious.. just as home schooled children are often times considered odd.. out of touch...
I struggled with trying to grow up and mature in an everchanging upside world of working wife and mother, and had my share of embittered arguments and angry episodes before God 's way finally chipped away all of the coarse rough places the world had tried to mold into me... My husband as well,,, has come to grips with what a godly husband is like... because like many men he struggles with a type of arrogance and critical spirit that perhaps my demeaning spirit may very well have helped to create.
Long hours of Bible study and biblical marriage seminars. have taught us what we needed to understand about godly marriage and proper role playing between husband and wife.... and now I can truly say I wouldnt want it any other way...
I feel completely loved and cherished by my husband whom I work with in decision making for the family... we share in decisions about everything...even eating out... because when I respect and love him for what he means to our family I want what he wants .... it makes our home happy and I see how God has blessed our marriage over the times of our growing together in submission to Him. HIs Godly wise order for all things is the one and only way that leads to happiness and fulfilment.
