Wives, submit to your husbands

It's a word that often makes us feel uncomfortable - submit. We have been led to believe that submitting to our husbands makes us weaker or less valuable. The Merriam-Webster definition of submission is: “to submit to the authority or will of another; surrender" or "rely or consent to conform to the opinion or authority of another". Christian submission has nothing to do with the weaker sex. It has nothing to do with traditional gender roles. It has nothing to do with complementarism versus egalitarianism. We could have a long conversation about these ideas, and I'm sure it would be a lively and heated discussion. But it is the written word of God telling wives to submit to their husbands.

It is important to note that the passage on submission begins with Ephesians 5:21, telling everyone to “submit to one another in reverence for Christ.” It is not only wives who must respect and listen to the opinions, ideas and thoughts of their husbands, but all of us, as children of God, must submit to one another because we recognize that we are all made in the image of God.< /p> Cultural expectations

As with many parts of the Bible, it is important to know some of the cultural implications of the time. Most societies at the time Paul wrote that women should submit to their husbands did indeed expect women to submit to the authority of their husbands. While different areas defined differently what submission looked like, Paul suggests continuing the tradition of submissive wives. In a chapter full of advice on how to live a godly life, Paul writes

“Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the Church, his body, of which he is the Saviour. Now as the church submits to Christ, so wives should submit to their husbands in all things” (Ephesians 5:22-24, NIV).

Merriam-Webster defines "submit" as "to submit to the authority or will of another; to rely on or consent to abide by the opinion or authority of another" .As wives, submitting to your husband means respecting his authority as the head of the family. It is listening to his opinions without criticism and allowing him to make choices with our full support. This does not mean that he is the only one who has a say in decisions. Submission is more about respect, support and encouragement than being a doormat. As we submit to our husbands, we must also remember to how important their role is. As the head of the family, our husbands have a huge responsibility and they are also guided in how to treat us.

After advising wives to submit to their husbands, Paul goes on, with a longer message, to tell husbands how to treat their wives. He writes in Ephesians 5:25-33: "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to sanctify her, purifying her by washing with water with the word, and to present it to himself as a radiant church, without spot or wrinkle or any other spot, but holy and blameless. In the same way, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they nurture and care for their body, just as Christ does for the church, for we are members of his body. “Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother and cleave to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. It's a deep mystery, but I'm talking about Christ and the Church. However, each of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. More succinctly, Paul writes to the Colossians,

"Husbands, love your wives and do not be hard on them" (Colossians 3:19, NIV).

It is important to note that we, as wives, are not the only ones called to action. We must not let our husbands use verses about submission against us. Men should love their wives. Submitting to your husband does not open the door to abuse. Submission is a mutually beneficial relationship in which each is expected to treat the other with love and respect.

We must be like Jesus, and Jesus submitted more than we ever will...