A friend of mine once said, "If you're gonna preach it,
God is going to make sure you live it, too."
So, here I am, learning to live it! Submission is a call on
the Christian life, not the married woman's life. We are all called to be
submissive. If you don't believe me, read 1 Peter, or my blog as it progresses,
or both!
My last blog ended with the statement "Eager obedience
follows intimacy. Intimacy is obtained through mutual confidence."
So, we are obedient to and supportive of those who love and
trust us because we know that they have our best interest in mind.
1 Peter is all about submission. The word is mentioned 37
times in the Bible, and 6 of those times are in this one short letter, which
Peter begins by discussing our new identity in Christ and the painful refining
process that occurs as a an integral part of this beautiful transformation. God
adopts us, saves us, and purifies us. He certainly has our best interest in
mind.
Cherelle Johnson is one of the wisest women I have ever met.
When I was processing all of this at the end of last summer, she said something
that really struck me. She had been married for a few weeks when we had this
conversation. She told me that she was ready to be a wife, but she wasn't ready
to be Chris' wife until she married him. It is different to submit to a title
than to submit to a person. Submission is not about ritual, it is about
relationship.
We submit to God out of his love for us and our trust in
him. And, because we know that He is the ultimate power in the universe, we can
submit to the people in our lives, whether they care about us or not. See,
whoever is my direct authority is not my ultimate authority. Christ is my
ultimate authority, and I TRUST HIM. He loves me with an unshakable love. He
trusts me enough to use me to do his work! I love him and want give him every
part of my life, even when I don't feel like it.
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