Our society has slyly attached negative connotations to the word submission. Instead of finding joy in serving others, our minds often run to thoughts of service under a ruthless taskmaster.
However, when the apostle Paul wrote about wives submitting to their spouses, he was giving an edict of love and not a directive for one to control the other. In fact, he was issuing an invitation for husbands and wives to pursue godliness in lifting one another up. This principle applies to all of us.
Paul was issuing an invitation for husbands and wives to pursue godliness in lifting one another up.
Dawson Trotman, founder of the world-wide discipleship ministry called The Navigators, was a man who truly modeled his life after the Lord Jesus Christ. He died in Schroon Lake, New York, by drowning even though he was an experienced swimmer.
After a day of waterskiing, an exhausted Trotman climbed back into the speedboat to take a seat. But before settling down, he asked the young woman next to him if she knew how to swim. She didn't, so he traded seats with her to try to keep her more safely situated. The boat suddenly hit a wave and sent the young lady and Trotman overboard. He held her up while the boat circled around, and saved her life. But by the time rescuers reached back down to haul Trotman up, he had breathed his last. The next week, TIME Magazine ran an article on Trotman's life. The caption that ran beneath his picture read, "Always Holding Someone Up." In one phrase, that was Trotman's life—holding people up.Perhaps this is what the apostle Paul was writing about when he instructed husbands and wives to love one another and be willing to sacrifice for each other. Men must park their egos, and women must serve with humility. Submission can be a difficult task but with God's direction, you will reach your goal.
Prayer: Lord, help me uphold those around me today. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship" (Romans 12:1).
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