Oak Creek near Cathedral Rock
1. Write down any thoughts or insights that you gained from reading the text and the lesson this week. What was notable to you from the reading?
Submission doesn't mean slavery or being a doormat. It doesn't mean the object of abuse or humiliation, which is really what our society says it is or some form of it. I like how the author very respectfully talks about this very delicate subject in our culture and society today. Submission is an attitude of willingness to place yourself or "arrange" yourself to be serve those to whom you are in submission to. No one can make you submit to anything, rather you have to choose to submit. It is done according to your free will.
There was a great firmness yet gentleness in which the author spoke about submission. I loved how she talked about one's identity in Christ and God would never ask us to debase or humiliate ourselves in order for there to be submission. She writes, "Submission is a place of honor & dignity, though it does require humility . . . " Humility is humbleness, not humiliation.
2. What do you think women fear most about submitting to their husbands? What are your struggles in this area?
I think women fear most about submission is not having control, being a doormat and subject to humiliation and abuse, but that is not what true godly submission is or means.
What I am challenged with is having a good attitude of servanthood. Sometimes I feel entitled and tired and when that is the case, I can get quite sarcastic, have a bad attitude, and feel like I am owed or why should I do this? Usually that is not the case and I happily submit to my husband as the head of our household. So being tired, overwhelmed, over scheduled, out of balance in life makes me not such a nice person to deal with, much less wanting to be submissive. Also, when I don't feel like I'm being heard, I am less submissive.
But, the Bible doesn't talk about being submissive to our husbands only when all the things are going right, rather all the time. I have seen the great benefit of trusting God to work through my husband. We are both flawed people and we will make mistakes. God gives us grace, hence we should give each other grace and forgive.
I am his helpmate and my husband does listen to my wisdom, so as long as I'm not nagging and trying to be controlling. Still a great work in progress, but I'm doing way better in this marriage than I ever did in my other 2 marriages.
3. What do you learn from the Scripture below about God's heart and character? How does trusting in God's character help us to trust Him in His commands, in particular to be submissive to our husband's leadership?
Isaiah 46:8-10 - 8 “Do not forget this! Keep it in mind! Remember this, you guilty ones. 9 Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God! I am God, and there is none like me. 10 Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish. (NLT)
God can do anything He wants and He has commanded wives to submit to our husbands. We can trust that God can work through our husbands and when we submit to them, even though they might be wrong, God will be honored and bless wives as we do this and things do turn out for God's glory. I have seen this in my own life and when I don't feel like trusting God with my husband, I can look back at my past divorces and my current marriage, the differences in not submitting to my husbands before and now submitting to my current husband and seeing the amazing stuff God can do no matter what.
Isaiah 49:15-16a - 15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. 16 “Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me. (NASB)
Sometimes we can think nothing is happening as we submit to our husbands and nothing good seems to come out of it. But, God is saying He sees and rewards. God will bless in due time and do incredible things we know not of. God cannot forget us.
Lamentations 3:21-23 - 21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: 22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (NIV)
God truly is faithful and will not fail us. Even when we are not faithful or patient or kind or even submissive to our husbands, God understands. We can truly trust in God.
4. How is submission to your husband's leadership a picture of your submission to God? Review these Scriptures to help you with your answers?
1 Corinthians 11:3 - But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of the woman,[a] and God is the head of Christ. (HCSB)
God is over our husbands and our husbands are over us. It is because of the sins of Adam and Eve the Bible says husbands will rule over their wives.
Ephesians 5:22-24, 33b - 22-24 Wives, understand and support your husbands in ways that show your support for Christ. The husband provides leadership to his wife the way Christ does to his church, not by domineering but by cherishing. So just as the church submits to Christ as he exercises such leadership, wives should likewise submit to their husbands. (MSG)
I love this picture because God shows us that he is not a tyrant or demanding as He is the ultimate head, and that our husbands are subject to Christ. There is a deep love that Christ leads our husbands and our husbands as they lead us, they should see Christ's example and lead us wives as such.
Titus 2:5 - to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored. (NASB)
There is a hierarchy and we are to follow it. Chaste and discreet are used in the KJV version. I think about how often I may not be discreet and chaste in my attitude and speech, but the Bible says that we wives are to be sensible and pure not just in our physical appearance, but in our attitudes, in our speech, in all we do. We are the keepers of the home for which our husbands come home to. Wow, be kind. Sometimes as a wife, I am not very kind.
When we can submit to our husbands, it is really showing Christ working through and in us.
5. In what ways can a wife support her husband's leadership even though he may not be a follower of Christ?
It's hard to know if my husband is or isn't a Christian, but I know we do not share all the same thoughts about the Bible, some very basic things. So, should I still submit to my husband? Absolutely. I am to trust God and the Bible tells us wives to submit to our husbands not only if they are Christians, but if they are our husbands - Christian or not.
Of course, if our husbands ask us to do something that is against God like killing someone or robbing a bank, or to harm others, ourselves, or anyone, it's those times we are to not submit. But for most things, our husbands aren't asking wives to do those types of things. It's to have a pleasant attitude when serving him and our families, to do things to help our husbands be successful in their role as head of the household. It's to respect & honor him, like when my husband says to table a heated discussion, I just need to respect and honor him and give us both space to cool down and then come back when we are both not emotional about things. Working on this.
MAKING IT PERSONAL JOURNAL
Write any thoughts or convictions that you have in regard to this chapter. What personal lessons concerning submission will you apply in your own life? How will you be more intentional as a woman of God?
Submitting to my husband's authority is something I have worked very hard to do in our marriage and I've seen the blessings of this. My will is quite strong, like a wild mustang, but as I trust God to work through my husband, even when he makes mistakes, I can be confident that even when my husband leads us in the wrong direction, that I can trust that God may allow it and use it for His good.
Rather than me brute force things to the way I want, I've seen God soften my husband's heart, be more tender towards me, treat me better. As I said before, we are both flawed people and work in progress. We still have quite a ways to go, but we've also come a long ways. We are both committed to each other, even if there are moments that seem like we are not.
I just have to respect my husband and give him space on some things, even if it's highly important to me, and let him meet me on his own time. God can do anything and though God does give free will, if I use my free will just to obey God through my husband, God can do more through that than if I didn't trust God and tried to manipulate things to
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