submission

       I have talked to many people about the term "submission" and many of the people I have talked to take offense to the term when it is in relation to marriage.  This has tweaked an interest in me to investigate more into the term.  I have been reading this book " God, Marriage and Family" and in the first chapter it lays out the roles of men and women in a marriage, and of course 1 Peter 3 is mentioned : "Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives,  when they see the purity and reverence of your lives." To me I see HONOR in the term submission. Let me explain...


     First of all, in the term submission, it does NOT say Wives be a DOOR MAT, or wives DON'T THINK FOR YOURSELVES, or wives YOUR HUSBAND IS MORE FAVORED AND THE MORE SUPERIOR BEING. 


     We first need to go back to Genesis 2:18 "The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” In this verse woman is called a SUITABLE helper, or EZER. This is a term that was only used for WOMAN and GOD HIMSELF. It is a very honorable term, that is used with great dignity and valor. 


      Then, Genesis 3:16 states: To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. our desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”  This very CLEARLY states that the man will have "authority" over woman. And this is a very touchy topic. But think about it. When the "fall" happened, roles were reversed. Woman took charge, ate from the tree, and ADAM WAS WITH HER (Genesis 3:6). He did not step up to the plate, he did not take responsibility for him and his wife, and he was more or less a coward, and did not intervene and BAM the fall. FROM THEN ON God gave man ultimate authority and RESPONSIBILITY to provide, protect and take blame for the short comings of him and his family. And I know that I am thankful that I do not have that role because that scares me to death.


     Here is where submission makes sense. I honestly do not think that the majority of women would want to be held to that standard of PROVIDING FULLY, taking full responsibility for the short comings, hard times, etc. and having that GOD GIVEN responsibility because if you fail at it, you are held accountable. But I take honor in one day being the helper to my husband. Because I know that I will marry a Godly man WHO WILL BE LIVING HIS LIFE FOR THE LORD, and so I know his choices and decisions will be Godly and I will take comfort in that. God knows what He is doing, and this plan is laid out in the bible, we need to stop trying to fit it to OUR lives and FOLLOW the word of God.