Beautiful Submission
Posted by lawsaw on July 9, 2009
22Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Eph 5: 22-24
1Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. 3Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. 4Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. 5For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, 6like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. 1 Pet 3:1-6
After writing about headship, I must write about its counterpart – submission. They really are two sides of the same coin. The above text reads that wife is to submit to their husband, the same way the Church is to submit to the Christ. This incidentally sets the pattern for the submission of wife. How extensive is this submission? In everything. How powerful is the submission of a wife? As powerful as converting the soul of a rebellious husband! (1 Pet3:1). It is really the silent gospel!
In the same way that headship of a husband is not an option, submission of a wife is also not an option as well. A wife cannot make submission disappear by just being disobedient. If she is not in submission to her husband, she will then be submissive to others, who may not have her interest at heart.
The world frowns upon this word and regards the idea of wife submitting to their husband as archaic, repressive and obnoxious. But the question to ask is; how does God view submission? Well, firstly it is beautiful (1 Pet 3:3) and secondly, it is of great worth and value. (1 Pet 3:4)
