Submitting to God
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.
It is the Lord Christ who you serve.
Colossians 3:23
I don't know about you, but at times I am pretty poor at submitting to my husband. Ok, lets be completely honest, I can be worse than poor at times.
When he is angry, grumpy, demanding, just a pain in the neck, rude, horrible . . . the last thing I want to do is submit, in fact I am more likely to become unreasonable and augmentative myself - he deserves it, doesn't he?
No, no and no!
And I was reminded why when I reading my daily devotional the other day - "The Excellent Wife" by Karen Eiler. In fact she put it so well, it was a bit of a wake up call.
It doesn't matter whether your husband is being nice or grumpy, augmentative or sweet, we are asked as wives to submit to our husbands as submitting to our husbands means we are submitting to God. If we do not submit to our husbands, even when he is being unreasonable means we are not submitting to God and that is not good at all.
Submitting to one's husband = submitting to God
Our submission isn't based on our husbands "worthiness" or whether he deserves it, but on our 100% faithfulness to God. It isn't based on our husband's conduct, but following God's most precious Words.
Karen Eiler suggest repeating a verse from Colossians 3:23 when our husbands are being unreasonable and submit whole heartily - to the Lord - and not to man. She also goes on to say "Instead of obeying with an angry or bitter attitude, you can do it joyfully, knowing that God will recognise and reward your obedience, even if your husband never does."
Just imagine how many arguments never needed to happen, how many tears that didn't need to be shed, how many hours of debating could have been skipped if we wives submitted to our husbands, knowing and understanding we were ultimately submitting to God.
Whilst we can't turn back the clocks, we can move forward doing what is right and I am the first to admit this is hard and takes lots of practice but it is a lesson we must learn ladies.
Whilst we can't turn back the clocks, we can move forward doing what is right and I am the first to admit this is hard and takes lots of practice but it is a lesson we must learn ladies.
Therefore submit to God.
James 4:7
*****
This is a big one, isn't it, Jo? (For me, too!!!) In fact, I think this is a big one for all the women in the extended Blair family! ;)
ReplyDeleteI've been learning and reading the same thing in the Excellent Wife Day-by-day book. And to make it sink even better into my mind, the Lord brought Dan and I to a book called "Love and Respect", which has been teaching me a very similar lesson (I would recommend the book - it contains many worthwhile pearls - if you want to know more about it, message me)... But it's certainly not an easy lesson to learn for some of us at least - despite the fact that it should be a foundational lesson we should learn when we're very young.
For the more stubborn woman this can be a huge struggle and we come from a family of very determined women who do like to think we know best!!
DeleteI have read Love and Respect some time ago and found some interesting parts. I think marriage is a lifetime of work, and whilst some couples are just perfect together, others need to keep on working at it (and not walk away when things get tough).
Dear Jo, I agree learning to submit is tough but we are really doing it unto our Lord! I remember learning this many years ago and it has helped me so much! But I am Irish and I have a bit of a fighting spirit! But I have been tempered by the Word!
ReplyDeleteThis would be a great post for the Party!!
Blessings, Roxy
Roxy, I also have the fighting spirit (thanks to my stubborn Scottish and determined German) and its hard to not always be right :)) However I have learnt that it isn't worth the effort or energy just to prove a point that really we trivial. So many arguments are really over nothing!!
DeleteHave a wonderful week ahead.
God Bless.
This was a brave message to give in today's society but though unpopular, it is absolutely true! I know others will be blessed by this and I appreciate you linking this up to the Art of Home-Making Mondays. I also love the name of your blog! :) Have a wonderful week, JES
ReplyDeleteWe can't pick and choose bit ps out of the bible! Thanks for the opportunity of linking up to your page:)) I will certainly be popping by again.
DeleteAmen and AMEN! Yes, this is a controversial topic but one that needs revisiting often. It CAN be difficult to submit to your man when he is being unreasonable or when you know he is making a poor decision. But, as you said, submitting to him is as submitting to the Lord. He, as the husband, will answer to the Lord so let Jesus deal with it! :)
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Marcia (visiting from Strangers and Pilgrims link up.)
Certainly a topic that most Christian wives like to pretend is not relevant to them. Whilst many wives stumble and fall with this one, we mustn't give up:)) we need to encourage each other.
DeleteThanks so much for dropping by:))
Hi there, I found your post at Art of Home-Making Mondays. This really is a great post, even though our flesh doesn't like it at all. It's a must. Thanks for sharing. Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for dropping by. Yes, this is a must but most want to skip over this :(
DeleteHave a great day.
I also struggle with this. I think if "Husbands, love your wives like Christ loved the Church" wasn't in scripture, it wouldn't bother me as much :[ I realize it shouldn't be a you-treat-me-better-and-I-will-treat-you-better thing. Lord Jesus, help me...'cause He's the only one who can...I cannot do this in my own power.
ReplyDeleteThis one also causes me much struggle especially when hubby isn't being very nice and I don't want to be nice to someone not being nice to me. It isn't one we can do alone, we need to do it with God.
DeleteThanks again Jo!! We all need to hear this over and over again! Roxy
ReplyDelete