BLOGS
Yep, I called that “s” word beautiful. That’s how I see it. Well…now anyway. I’m finally starting to get it. There were many years when that word would come up in a sermon like in Ephesians 5:24, “Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands,” I could feel my eyes rolling back in my head and the curtain would fall. No need to listen to rest of what the minister was going to say, I wasn’t interested.
It took a few years of growing in faith until I accepted that it was scripture from God and therefore true and valuable. However, even after a few years into our marriage, I didn’t put it into practice. It just didn’t seem practical, especially when my husband could be a total dope at times. Seems fair, right? I will submit to him when he shapes up and loves me like Christ loves the church (Ephesians 5:25), otherwise the deal is off. Oh my…thank you God for being so patient with me. So how did I come to see beauty in submission instead of feeling it was an insult? I finally got my sight fixed. Instead of seeing these verses as a service to my husband alone, I realized it was my service to Christ. Phil was not calling me to submit, Jesus was. Why? Because he loves me like crazy and has plans to use our marriage in awesome ways if it is built up correctly. The more I get to know my Savior, the more I want to please and serve him. And, yes, I have discovered through trial and error (lots of error) that His way is ALWAYS best, no exceptions. We need to get things straight, Ladies. If you think submission = weakness, inferiority, or conformity against better judgment you are sorely ignorant just like I was. Would you use these same qualities to describe Jesus? I don’t think so, probably just the opposite. In fact, Jesus is our perfect example of submission. Jesus is God and therefore equal to God yet he was called to submission to fulfill his role in God’s plan. John 6:38 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.” Jesus submitted to his Father God, even unto death. Matthew 26: 39, “And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.’” You can see that we as wives have been called to a very noble role indeed. One that Jesus powerfully undertook willingly. Yes, our husbands also model a role of Jesus through authority and leadership. That is the role they have been called to in service. We have separate but equal roles, Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” So get that sense of inferiority out of your head right now (haven’t you read about the Proverbs 31 woman?). As wives we have the authority and responsibility to share our wisdom, and provide discernment and input to our husbands as they make decisions, but they have the task of making the final call. They will not always choose right, but this does not relieve us of our calling from Christ. No, we should never follow our husbands into sin; God is still our absolute authority. However, we will not always agree on decisions made. This is a great time to use the dynamic power of submission to influence our husbands toward Christ. Pray for them, love them and serve them in a Christ-like fashion. You will be amazed at the changes these alone can bring about. Take back what the Enemy is trying to steal from you in your marriage relationship. Don’t let the world twist the beauty that God has ordained. Submission holds incredible power and has life changing abilities when put into proper practice. It is a powerful position that God has placed his daughters in. Claim it as yours and wield it with style and passion. Ladies, do you ever wonder what your husband would be like without you? Yes, he would probably survive but would he thrive like he does with you by his side? Do you make him better with how you treat him? Do the words you say to him cause him to want to lead better, to be more like Jesus for his family? These are some tough questions but good measures for how we are performing our role. They also show the potency of our gifts as helpers in marriage. Are you a help to your husband, do you add honor to his life… or take it away? God created man in such a way that he is better when woman is there by his side helping him as no one else can. I encourage you to be that wife that proudly comes up beside your man and uses your God given gifts together to glorify your Creator.
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My Pastor often uses a phrase during his sermons that can irritate me, or at least sound wrong for some reason. It is, “The Bible reeks of Jesus Christ”. Reeks…really? I’ve heard of trash reeking, farms reeking, and at times I will tell one of my boys that they reek. But the Word of God…I’m not so sure that’s the proper use of that word.
When something reeks it repels a person away from it. No one wants to smell something stinky or get close to it for sure. That’s like checking the milk to see if it has turned. You have to smell it to know, if it’s sour, you push it away fast. Or if someone has bad body odor we may give them a handshake but we probably won’t give them a big bear hug. If it reeks, it repels. So I’ve been reading Paul’s letters to the Corinthians lately (awesome books of the Bible by the way, you should check them out) and I come across these verses: “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?” 2 Cor. 2:14-16 What? Not only does it talk about the Word of God having a fragrance (“the knowledge of him” = the gospel of Christ = God’s Word), but it also talks about Christians having an aroma! Now we already know that people can have different smells good and bad, but this passage speaks of something more, a powerful spiritual aroma. Keep in mind that Paul is speaking only to Christians here and he says that as Christians we have the “aroma of Christ” and we smell different to different people. To one we smell like death (does the word “reek” come to mind?) and to the other we smell like life. Wow, we are some pretty potent people! Either others will be drawn towards us or repelled away from us. Both of these reactions come from the same scent which is the knowledge of Jesus Christ that is in us. Why does this happen? If you belong to the World you hate Jesus and are repelled, but if you belong to God, you love the knowledge of him and are drawn. It says in John 15:19, “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” As you can see there are two very different groups of people here: worldly/hate/repelled vs. godly/love/drawn. This is why when you mention Jesus in a conversation some will engage and have a conversation and others will shut down and end the discussion. If you have never experienced this before, it may be time to take a good long whiff of yourself. Have you been spending enough time with your Savior to smell like him? Or do you smell way too much like the world around you? You need to have the aroma of Christ well applied and then spread “the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.” Just like the Word of God tells us too. Remember that this fragrance is life to many of those around you; Jesus draws others to him through you. This is very exciting news! Don’t feel bad about smelling like death to some around you and knowing that the World hates you. It is great assurance that you belong to Christ! It is a great thing to reek of Jesus Christ! ...Did I really just say that? Could it be true…my Pastor is right? Aw, man, can’t he be wrong just once? Well, not this time I guess. If you live in a life like mine, you understand what I call domestic craziness. Ladies, stick with me here, I really do think you will be able to relate to this. Domestic craziness is the normal “hum” of our home lives. It is not negative, just busy and active with a certain noise level that is normal for our families. I call it craziness because no matter how “normal” we think our lives should be it always seems slightly crazy. Or slightly “not normal”, which is more normal than our idea of normal is. So being “not normal” is truly normal for today’s families, which means we usually live in slightly crazy homes. I have either lost you or you are nodding your head saying this doesn’t make any sense but I totally understand what she is saying!
Some days the normal craziness spikes up a few notches and things can get hectic. The normal hum of your home starts to sound more like a freight train. In my house it could look something like this: the boys are wild with one screaming “Woo hoo!” while trying to lasso the dog like a cowboy, the other is dancing around the house with a red popsicle, my teenage son is running late, looking for his misplaced work boots again, the phone keeps ringing, the place is a mess (despite me picking it up all day), I’m stepping on Legos that are scattered on the floor while trying to catch the one with the red popsicle and my husband walks in asking where supper is. Feel your stress level rising yet? Can you relate? I’m guessing you can. I used to really let times like this get to me. I would get angry and ask, “Why me!?” The stress would build until I was upset and frustrated with everyone in my family and a dark cloud settled over my head. I would yell at the kids to behave and have snide comments for my husband. Yeah, I was a real treat. So what changed? Did I finally gain control and shape up my house, husband, and kids? Haha, that’s a good one! No… I changed. I have learned that when I have problems (with a situation or a person) I need to look at myself first to see if I am the one who needs to shape up. Now, I’m not able to change my own heart, but when I give it over to God, he can. The Bible tells us when we receive Christ we are a new creation and that we need to look and act more like Jesus. Ephesians 4:31 - 5:1-2 tells us: “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Be imitators of God, as dearly loved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” What a great reminder that I can forgive anything since Christ has forgiven me so very much! I want to be tenderhearted and kind towards others (including my family) not filled with the ugliness of anger and bitterness. What a beautiful mind picture when told to “walk in love as Christ loved us,” even sacrificing himself for us. It puts it all into perspective now. We need to imitate Jesus. How do I do this when placed in a situation like described above? I breathe in Jesus. That is what I call it when I take a deep breath and remind myself of the scripture above and so many more like it. I dwell on Jesus and all he has done for me and that my true life is with him. He brings peace beyond understanding (Philippians 4:7) and fills me with forgiveness and patience. This makes me sound pretty holy! I can assure you it has only come from experience and practice (19 years as a mother) and I still fail often. Praise God that he is faithful and patient with us! So the next time you find yourself in a moment of extreme domestic craziness remember to breathe in Jesus. Take a deep breath and calm yourself in Christ’s love and the forgiveness found in his Word. Remind yourself to imitate Jesus and let his peace envelop you. This life is so very temporary; don’t allow moments like this to bring that dark cloud over your head. Clear it away with the powerful Words of God. I encourage you to always be prepared with a memorized piece of scripture. That is the only true way to do battle! Need help finding one? Message me, I would love to help! |
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