Dear Women Who Have a Hard Time Hearing That the Bible Says to SUBMIT, Think About It Like This:
Consider something that you’re really passionate about, that you love, and that you’re willing to give your very best at. Perhaps it’s the work you do or a sport you play. For example sake, let’s say you LOVE soccer. You play on a team and it’s game day.
What would you do when the coach calls on you, saying he needs you to get out on the field and give your best? Pout and say, “You can’t tell me what to do! I’ll go when I feel like it!” Of course not, that would be selfish and silly. Your team needs you!
If you really loved your team (and respected your coach) you would submit what you have, you would give your coach and your teammates your very best, yeah? You would yield your desire to sit and relax when you get tired for the sake of the team, right? If you know that he has your best interest in mind, you’d listen to your coach as he draws up the next play, trusting his leadership, in order to press on into victory, wouldn’t you?
He’s not showing you a play to dominate you or make you lose–he’s also submitting what he has (his knowledge and expertise) to the team and to help you WIN!
This is the kind of submission that God speaks of when it comes to marriage. Like the coach, He has our best interest in mind. When we submit to each other, we submit to Him. It’s not about being dominated or bossed around, it’s about doing your part and working as a team.
The other half of the verse that tells women to submit to their husbands, also tells men to, “LOVE their wives.” Before we get all bent out of shape over the submission part, we also have to look at the type of leadership God calls men to so that we understand what this is saying in the right context. Leadership in the kingdom looks like service and sacrifice, not dominance. It’s also men–not just women– that are also challenged to submit and sacrifice.
