Truth for Thursday

I am continuing “Truth for Thursday” here at Being Refined As Silver.  We are on the last chapter of “Lies Women Believe”, chapter 11: “The Truth That Sets Us Free”.  It will take several weeks to review this chapter, so I hope you will continue to come back each week. 

Nancy Leigh DeMoss encourages her readers to take time to savor these liberating, life-changing truths.  She suggests saying each Truth aloud, again and again until your thinking becomes aligned with God’s way of thinking. 

                            Image from ChristArt.com

Here is the sixteenth truth:

The greatest freedom I can experience is found through submission to God-ordained authority.

What, freedom through submission?  Many people believe that submission means a loss of freedom.  After all you are submitting to someone else, and not putting yourself first.  How can that lead to freedom?

“…submitting to one another in the fear of God.” Ephesians 5:21

“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.  For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.  Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.”  Ephesians 5:22-24

Nancy Leigh DeMoss writes, “When we resist authority, we become more vulnerable to Satan’s attacks and to sin, even as Eve sinned when she acted apart from the authority of her husband.” 

God’s word tells us to submit to our husbands.  By doing so we are placing ourselves under God’s protective covering.  When we say that we don’t need that covering but not submitting we are stepping out of that protection and opening ourselves up to more sin.  The world may mock at the idea of a wife’s submission; many even change the traditional wedding vows to take out the word “obey”.  They don’t understand true biblical submission.  Biblical submission brings blessings.  Doesn’t everyone want to be blessed? 

Another area of submission is in regards to our spiritual leaders.

“Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give an account.  Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable to you.”  Hebrews 13-17 

Are you a joy or a grief to your pastor?  Do you seek Godly counsel?  Or do you ignore it because you are not ready to make the changes needed?   Do you strive for the truth and seek to live your life for Christ?  Or do you turn to the world for its advice on how to live your life?  Remember that your pastor will have to give an account one day for what they did for your soul.  What an awesome responsibility that is!  What are you doing to bring them joy?

As Christians, submission is a beautiful thing.  Don’t let the world’s philosophies choke that beauty out.  If you desire to learn more about a wife’s biblical submission, I strongly recommend the book “The Excellent Wife” by Martha Peace.  I know many of you may be thinking “what about the husband?”  Husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church.  You can read more about the husband’s responsibility in Ephesians 5.  There is also a book called “Manly Dominion in a Passive Purple Ball World” by Mark Chanski which addresses man and his role in this world. 

This was not an easy post to write.  Actually as I read the truth for this post, I was not happy.  My heart was telling me that I needed to apply this truth more diligently in my own life.  If you asked me if I thought I am a submissive wife,  I would say yes.  And if you asked those around me, they would probably agree.  But I know my own heart and how the desire to rule and have things my own way still wars within me.  My prayer is that I would submit not out of pure obedience but that I would find joy in it and desire it.  What about you?

~Theresa