August 1st

Better Wives

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord...And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. Colossians 3:18,23-24

How do you like the idea of submission? If you are like most people, then submission is not exactly on your top ten list of things you like to think about.

Like it or not, submission is a major subject in the Bible, and is therefore something that we need to understand. More than that, we need to come to grips with what submission means in our lives and where and to whom we need to be submitting.

Our verses today address just one of many aspects of submission, and there is one thing I want you to hear before I say anything else. All of us have to submit; none of us are exempt. Even Jesus had to submit to His Father, saying, Not my will, but yours be done. Wives are not relegated to some special category of submission as though they were a subcategory of humanity.

What we need to understand is what submission really means. Look at the word this way: sub-mission. To be in submission to someone means that we place ourselves under their mission. It does not mean that we are slaves, subjected to every whim and desire of the person to whom we submit. Rather, it means that we use our talents, gifts, passions, and abilities to their fullest to further the mission of the one who is over us.

In a family, this means that the husband has a responsibility to God to carry a missiona calling to which the family is called. What is your goal in marriage? Are you pulling in the same direction? Do you have a direction, know what it is, and what you and your spouse's role in that direction is? If you cannot answer these questions then, husbands, you are falling down on your responsibility; and wives, you might have a hard time with submission-you have to know the mission to be in submission.

Submission is about pulling together instead of going your own direction. It goes beyond simply being compliant, taking committed action from the heart to benefit the calling of another person.

This is true submission. Do this and it will transform your marriage, your family, and your life.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You for being my example of true submission! Please help me to know what my/my husband's mission is, and then give me the courage to submit and do all I can to benefit that mission.

Amen