Submitted

SUBMITTED

a prayer to open

Here I am, Lord. Remind me who I am.

I am loved. I am known. I belong to you.

And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything.

For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church. And we are members of his body.

As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one. So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Submitted is a word we don’t like in our culture. It carries a sense of “less than,” a surrender of ourselves. We are apt to be told, “Rise up! Take the lead! Strive for importance!” We want to be at the top of the heap, the front of the line, the most prestigious place at the table. And Paul said something quite different. Of course, this idea of submitting to one another is not Paul’s; it is Jesus’. We see it in Jesus’ words (“Even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others, and to give his life as a ransom for many” [Mark 10:45]), but we see it more powerfully in his actions: coming to earth in human form, serving those he came into contact with, refusing to be made king by human hands, washing his disciples’ feet, and laying down his life for the sake of the world. Paul described Jesus’ actions this way in Philippians 2:5-8:

You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

Though he was God,

he did not think of equality with God

as something to cling to.

Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;

he took the humble position of a slave

and was born as a human being.

When he appeared in human form,

he humbled himself in obedience to God

and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

• In what context is it most difficult for you to think about submitting to someone else (for example, at work or in your family)? Why is it difficult?
• Reflect on any resistance you feel when you read Paul’s words in this passage. Where is the resistance coming from? What, if anything, shifts in you as you read the Philippians passage about Jesus (2:5-8)?
• Take a moment to quiet yourself in God’s loving presence. Ask him to open your eyes and heart to the ways he wants you to submit to others in your life out of reverence for Christ. Who did God bring to mind?

Father, thank you for showing me, through Jesus, how to submit and how to love. Help me demonstrate the humility Jesus taught and modeled. Encourage me to release my need to be first, best, and right. Give me the courage to build up, encourage, and enliven others. Give me eyes to see each person I meet today with your love and mercy. Convict my heart when I seek my own glory, credit, and honor. May all I do be for your glory and honor, and may you heal and correct my failures and faults. Amen.