I am going to level with you right off the bat and say that this is not a post that is going to be easy to write. This is a topic that is well represented in scripture but horribly misunderstood by society, even among Christians. It seems to be quite the polarized issue so I will admit that I am a little nervous about being open about what my thoughts and beliefs are.
"A Christian woman- one who proudly wears the badge of womanhood given by her Father- must resolve to go against the tide. she must stand for what she believes based on her confidence in the One who has delivered eternal truth to her in writing. She must return to God's design and definition for women and then joyfully embrace, accept and experience its blessings. God's ways are good. They are all good."
Submission. Submission seems to be the hot button word when trying to reconcile God's view of womanhood against what the world says. The world says that we are our own person. That we don't need to answer to anyone. That we make our own rules and dance to the beat of our own drum all the time. That at the end of the day we only need to be concerned for ourselves.
Priscilla Shirer (the author of the book) brings up the metaphor of football. Football players are big guys. They run around a field after a ball. They knock each other down and do lots of other crazy stuff (that this avid Cheesehead is a little ashamed to admit she does not understand.) But when the normal sized umpire throws a flag...everything stops. These huge dudes, that are maybe twice as big as the umpire, stop on a dime when the umpire tells them too. (Okay...so I just realized that I have been calling referees umpires. But I am going to leave it that way because it is kinda funny, lol.) They submit to the referee. They have to or there would be no game. It would just be a bunch of huge guys beating each other up for a pigskin ball.
Submission is not exclusive to women submitting to men. Society would not work if submission was not in play at all. Employees must submit to their bosses: Colossians 3:22. Citizens must submit to the government God has put in place: 1 Peter 2:13. The believer must submit to spiritual authority: 1 Peter 5:5. The children must submit to their parents: Ephesians 6:1. And wives must submit to the leadership of their husbands: Ephesians 5:22-23.
As a human, I can kind of see what the feminist movement was trying to accomplish. My humanity does not like the idea of being put in a box and told what to do. My humanness tells me that I can do things as good, if not better than men. My humanness tells me that I should work to prove that point.
My humanness may say that, but it is not what my Bible says. The Bible says that men and women are created in His image. Which means that one is not better than the other. God sees us as equal. But we are different. We have different roles in His perfect plan. There is great freedom in embracing that truth. "This divine arrangement of roles, boundaries and responsibilities is intended to exude blessing in all directions. Just as employees, citizens, believers and children receive the greatest benefit- and perform their most efficient work- by willfully, gratefully operating within their prescribed positions and under proper authority, women experience life to the fullest extent as they exert their influence through God-trusting submission."
Yes. There are people out there who will try to take advantage of a woman who is willing to submit. Biblical submission does not turn women into doormats. That is the world talking. The world is saying that will happen if you choose to live life under God's plan for you.
As I am unmarried, I cannot give you an exact picture of what Biblical submission should look like or what our exact role is as women. I can tell you that is what I want. I want to be a Biblical wife when the time comes. I want to be faithful to the plans the Lord has in place and live under His rule and guidance. I have learned that only under total submission to Him is real satisfaction and joy found. Submitting to God means submitting your whole life to Him. Every nook and cranny. I would rather hold to Him and live under submission to Him and my future husband instead of clinging to the dust in the bottom of my closet. God created me to be an individual. That isn't going to change when I get married. But I have faith that the man God has for me won't want it to. God's design for marriage is going to fit us. It will be a challenge, it won't be a walk in the park everyday. But the man that I stand up with and say "I do" with will be worth it. I will want to submit to him because I so greatly respect and love him. He will want to be a leader because of his love for me and his understanding of God's plan for our lives. I have been waiting and praying for my husband for many years. I believe that God will be faithful to my prayers. God will not put me in a position where I will become a doormat or where my desire to please Him will be taken advantage of. My job is to seek Him first in everything. Once I do that, everything will fall in place. Life won't always be perfect, but if I seek Him first...I will know without a doubt that His plan is.
"A Christian woman- one who proudly wears the badge of womanhood given by her Father- must resolve to go against the tide. she must stand for what she believes based on her confidence in the One who has delivered eternal truth to her in writing. She must return to God's design and definition for women and then joyfully embrace, accept and experience its blessings. God's ways are good. They are all good."
Submission. Submission seems to be the hot button word when trying to reconcile God's view of womanhood against what the world says. The world says that we are our own person. That we don't need to answer to anyone. That we make our own rules and dance to the beat of our own drum all the time. That at the end of the day we only need to be concerned for ourselves.
Priscilla Shirer (the author of the book) brings up the metaphor of football. Football players are big guys. They run around a field after a ball. They knock each other down and do lots of other crazy stuff (that this avid Cheesehead is a little ashamed to admit she does not understand.) But when the normal sized umpire throws a flag...everything stops. These huge dudes, that are maybe twice as big as the umpire, stop on a dime when the umpire tells them too. (Okay...so I just realized that I have been calling referees umpires. But I am going to leave it that way because it is kinda funny, lol.) They submit to the referee. They have to or there would be no game. It would just be a bunch of huge guys beating each other up for a pigskin ball.
Submission is not exclusive to women submitting to men. Society would not work if submission was not in play at all. Employees must submit to their bosses: Colossians 3:22. Citizens must submit to the government God has put in place: 1 Peter 2:13. The believer must submit to spiritual authority: 1 Peter 5:5. The children must submit to their parents: Ephesians 6:1. And wives must submit to the leadership of their husbands: Ephesians 5:22-23.
As a human, I can kind of see what the feminist movement was trying to accomplish. My humanity does not like the idea of being put in a box and told what to do. My humanness tells me that I can do things as good, if not better than men. My humanness tells me that I should work to prove that point.
My humanness may say that, but it is not what my Bible says. The Bible says that men and women are created in His image. Which means that one is not better than the other. God sees us as equal. But we are different. We have different roles in His perfect plan. There is great freedom in embracing that truth. "This divine arrangement of roles, boundaries and responsibilities is intended to exude blessing in all directions. Just as employees, citizens, believers and children receive the greatest benefit- and perform their most efficient work- by willfully, gratefully operating within their prescribed positions and under proper authority, women experience life to the fullest extent as they exert their influence through God-trusting submission."
Yes. There are people out there who will try to take advantage of a woman who is willing to submit. Biblical submission does not turn women into doormats. That is the world talking. The world is saying that will happen if you choose to live life under God's plan for you.
As I am unmarried, I cannot give you an exact picture of what Biblical submission should look like or what our exact role is as women. I can tell you that is what I want. I want to be a Biblical wife when the time comes. I want to be faithful to the plans the Lord has in place and live under His rule and guidance. I have learned that only under total submission to Him is real satisfaction and joy found. Submitting to God means submitting your whole life to Him. Every nook and cranny. I would rather hold to Him and live under submission to Him and my future husband instead of clinging to the dust in the bottom of my closet. God created me to be an individual. That isn't going to change when I get married. But I have faith that the man God has for me won't want it to. God's design for marriage is going to fit us. It will be a challenge, it won't be a walk in the park everyday. But the man that I stand up with and say "I do" with will be worth it. I will want to submit to him because I so greatly respect and love him. He will want to be a leader because of his love for me and his understanding of God's plan for our lives. I have been waiting and praying for my husband for many years. I believe that God will be faithful to my prayers. God will not put me in a position where I will become a doormat or where my desire to please Him will be taken advantage of. My job is to seek Him first in everything. Once I do that, everything will fall in place. Life won't always be perfect, but if I seek Him first...I will know without a doubt that His plan is.
God's ways are good.
They are all good.
{All quotes in this post are found in The Resolution for Women by Priscilla Shirer.}
