What does it mean to be submissive. I said i ask this question simply because i would like to hear opinions, and understand what it means to each person.
Submission according to the dictionary simply unresistingly or humbly obedient. I would like to define a conclusion i have come to.
I take my conclusion from Ephesians 5 21 -31 NLT. I read it over an over again, and i feel i got a clarity on this topic.
Verse 21 simply says Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Verse 22-24 tells the woman to submit to her husband in everything.
Verse 25 -29 For Husbands this means love your wives comparing it to how Christ loved the church.
There are some bible passage I would put in this context. 1 Corinthians 11 in some verses
like verse 8 emphasizing woman was made from the Man's Rib
Verse 9 Emphasizing the role of a woman as a helpmate and been made to assist the man
Before Men get arrogant
Verse 11 emphasizes that we are not independent of each other.
1 Peter 3 emphasizes Men to treat women with honor. This is plainly stated that she is an equal Partner emphasizing treating her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered.
I know most of this bible passages are clear to understand nothing confusing about it. It's just hard for men who want authority and don't want to be accountable to a woman. It is hard for a woman in this time of ours simply because the world has seen men as dictators and women need to win their rights back.
In the Kingdom of God we are all joint heirs no one is greater than the other.
Men are to submit to their wives and honor them. Ephesians 5:21 mentions us to submit ourselves to one another. It didn't emphasize just men but also women. Neither did it mention women submitting to women alone not men.
So the first step is submitting to each other.
1 peter 3 1-2 gives the advice to the woman simply you must accept the authority of the Man. Even if the man is not acting right you need to accept his authority. It very similar to having a boss. A good Boss listens to you and serve you as well gives clear directions. If the Good Boss becomes Bad You still have to obey him simply because he has given authority and it must be accepted. No talking of abusive spouses
Ephesians 5:25 Clearly talks to the man Love your wife. If we go by the attributes of love according to 1 Corinthians 13 we men would love their wives regardless of how they behave. Not dependent on how good they perform or satisfy our standard. We won't keep any record of ills we have to be patient, Kind, not be jealous of them even if they have more success. We cannot become irritable, We cannot demand our own way. We can never give up on them and we must endure in every circumstance when they look best and appealing and those days they become overweight or have stretch marks or become all wrinkled up or when they are ill and can't satisfy our desires.
IF we love our wives before making any decision we would consult them and put them ahead in our thoughts. think of how does it affect them.
1 Peter talks of the woman as a weaker vessel. If we have junior ones we teach them and tolerate them because we know they are young, possibly naive and have more to learn. We encourage them even when they make mistakes.
I believe as Men who would want to be authorities in their house. We have to first be a servant (not a slave) For Example Our President is our Servant simply because he serves our interest. he is not a slave who has no opinion of his own. Jesus was the perfect example of a servant. Knowing the authority he had chose to die for us, washing his disciples feet.....
When we become a servant that's when we can lead. When our wives see that we take decisions putting them into consideration, been able to handle situations and take charge and accept responsibilities. When our motives are clear as to whom we have allegiances to, when we shower them with affection. It helps a woman submit easily. If Men don't have their act together or take authority and responsibility it's hard for a woman to submit.
We may push them to having to fill in the gap we have created by differing authority to them automatically.
Women please don't marry a Man you don't trust his decisions or leadership in all areas, even though you love to be submissive you won't be submissive. Simply because you can't trust him with authority, your human mind works into overdrive you tend to take charge. The man sees you as controlling or not submissive.
Men Please don't marry a woman because she is beautiful. Don't use your money, charisma or any appealing characteristics to attract a woman. Those things wear off after living together for a year. If she doesn't believe in your leadership, decisions nor respect your occupation and financial capability. Please don't do it, you will end up regretting it. She would continually compare you & undermine your authority.
To all we can't fix ourselves talk less of fixing the other person. The only person with that Job Title is the Holy Spirit. Please lets depend on Him to change, mold, and refine our heart to continually trust in Jesus to lead us and our families. If we put God first in everything even though our marriages may not be perfect it would have peace, joy, and above all bring glory to the father.
Thanks for your input really appreciate it. I think this wisdom. it goes a step deeper and it sure helps.
"What does it mean to you to be submissive to you?"
Submission has nothing to do with the ineriority of the female. How does a female submit? Well we look at all the passages in scripture that speak of a woman's role in marriage. She is to be a helper(Gen 2:18-22). Again this does not mean the woman is inferior. The same word is used of God in the OT.
It also doesn't mean that the woman just follows blindly whatever decision the male makes. For instance, she should not follow the man into sin simply because it's his desire.
It doesn't mean she can't take initiative or make decisions(Proverbs31).
The woman submits first and foremost because it's an act of obedience to God(Ephesians 5:22) She is to honor the husbands authority. It works because the husband doesn't rule over her with a rod of iron. He sacrifices for her and he loves her. He cares for her desires, so she has no problems submitting to his authority.
Now...husband and wife will disagree. A good husband will seek God first in prayer and also seek the counsel of his wife. However, at the end of the day if the two cannot agree, she will submit to the decision of her husband. She shouldn't mock him when he turns out to be wrong either. She should pray that he has wisdom the next time to make the right choice. He will likely learn a valuable lesson out of all of this. Anyway...obviously it goes much deeper than this.
As I said in my PM to you...I want to apologize for my seemingly argumentative attitude. I'm so used to being told I'm wrong myself that I don't realize how I come off to others. Anyway, more can be said about that but I will just leave it there.
Opinions are certainties, when illumination has come from meditating and obeying the word opinion's will not be there.
Man is not a woman's spiritual head, Jesus is.
The term submission is obviously very misconstrued here.
To say I will not change, I will defend my beliefs, that statement is an indication of idolatry.
Just a note no man can discern the word of God mentally.
Submission would be better understood if Christians where walking in the light of first part of the chapter, most are full of self and nearly empty of the fulness of God.
Take a survey and see who walks in the word of God according to Acts 2:4
Christians that are full and stay full of the Holy Ghost will not act in aforementioned posts, they will change.
@holdingouthope brother I myself apologize to you in anyway I may have offended you or set off any storm forgive me. I repent and ask God to forgive me.
@everyone I apologize to you for anyway I have comeout as obnoxious or offended anyone please forgive me.
You are free to contribute it helps us to grow. Please feel free to contribute, this is a forum we can all learn off eachother.
Not to add fuel, and I apologize if it's been said already, but there are some posts I don't read.
There has to be something said for how God's word does not change, the word of God stays the same. That being the case, is the 'that worked then but things are different now' defense a good one? While it's true if singles back, back in the day joined this site they'd be banned cause theyed be under like what 14? But still, God knew this time before we got here right, so..
A friend suggested I see obedience as respect, I can certainly see that, but from what I studiied, well according the Strongs anyway, it's a bit more than respect.
I wouldn't mind real, truthful, spirit guided teaching, understanding on this issue,and I feel in my spirit that it's not right (for me) to read the word of God as His daughter and say 'no that does not apply to me". Guess that's where that rightly dividing the word of God instruction comes in. I don't wanna be ashamed, but I also don't wanna be an unhappy wife.
Nobody is the boss over anybody, but the husband is responsible for what goes on. If you're not the leader than that causes problems..
Adam and Eve for example. He was right there while his wife was conversed with the devil. There had to be other issues prior to that (just syain').
Adam - if not addressing her, should have addressed ther serpant. Had he done so, as we know, would have changed everything. Guess i'm also assuming he didn't agree with what was being said.. awe, wait he did object/question.
He should have told the devil to get outta dodge (where God told him he had dominion right) and told his wife he'd rather have spinach.
The problem is that, even if the words actually mean only that women are to submit to their husbands as holdingouthope states, the application of that verse disproportionately gets translated in the male mind that the male IS superior and that he has biblical backup for being a bully, especially when the pressure is on and he is feeling cornered and/ or inadequate.
The words in your earlier submission has an undertone of this very issue:
�It (the scripture quote) is the umbrella for the following submissions...
Wives to Husbands
Children to Parents
Slaves to Masters�
The very hierarchy of the words chosen instantly equate wives to slaves.
Wives to Husbands = Children to Parents = Slaves to Masters
Or Husbands = parents = Masters and Wives = children = slaves
The interpretation, if only subconsciously, is that the woman is property, not a trusted helpmeet.
Everybody wants to be the master of their own fate, or at least hold on to the illusion of being the master of their own fate, which is the very issue of the eating of the forbidden fruit anyway! They wanted to be equal with God, not do as He said but call their own shots� so they defied His ONE rule! It is our fall-back sin still. It is also illustrated over and over again in the domestic violence cases you must deal with as a police officer, where the man felt he was the boss and others must do as he said �or else�.
I�m not saying that the scripture needs to be thrown out, not by any means. I�m saying it is probably the most delicate of instructions that is far too often separated from the rest of scripture to be used cart-blanche to rule the household and everything within the man�s reach. Statistically, I would hazard a guess that this is the rule rather than the exception, when it comes down to the crunch.
A true leader is not someone you have to be told to obey or submit to. If you are going through the jungles of Africa for the first time, with a guide, and the guide tells you what to watch out for and not to stray from the path, you easily submit because he has shown that he always has your best in mind, and he knows where he is going. If he told you suddenly to duck, you�d duck � no questions asked, no rebellion considered . Most women would follow a man who lead rather than demanded submission, without question, because of these same leadership qualities.
Perhaps this is why Paul cultures the �submit� statement with the �gave His life for her� statement. And since she is his helpmeet, he will trust her to help him learn where he is going and how to always have her best in mind.
