Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Biblical Submission ... For Her ... (1 Peter 3:1-6)

Today’s scripture: 1 Peter 3:1-6

I thought yesterday was controversial … I almost want to skip today’s verses because someone’s going to take issue with what I’m going to say. I can guarantee it. But if I’m going to go through 1 Peter verse by verse, I need to meditate on every verse, even those that are uncomfortable for me or for others.

So here we go.

Submission—biblical submission—has quite a negative rap these days. I believe it’s not as bad as people make it out to be. Several years ago, I wrote a Bible study for women in unequally yoked marriages, and I addressed this:

Submissive: Being willing to be subject to something
Did you catch that? To submit is an issue of willingness. I read recently that a wife-to-husband relationship is similar to a vice president-to-president relationship. Certainly a vice president is able to do as much (or perhaps more) than the president. They work together, often make decisions together. However, he willingly submits to the authority of the president because there needs to be one leader. In the same way, we as wives contribute and have a voice, but there does have to be a final authority. Submission does not mean we’re to accept bullying or abuse. Excerpted from You’re Not Alone © 2010 Sauni Rinehart
I believe there does need to be one leader in a marriage, one final decision maker. But I also believe in a healthy marriage, husbands and wives want the best for each other. So they’ll cooperate. They’ll discuss. They’ll compromise. So submission isn’t so difficult.

You may disagree, but I challenge you. If you’re in a Christian marriage, pray for God to work in your heart. Pray for that “imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit.”

Not a doormat. Not a whipping post. Rather, a woman of God who desires to be precious in the sight of her God.

(And wait until tomorrow; Peter talks to husbands!)

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