Should I Submit to my Husband?

“Submission”…

Oh that word…it used to make me cringe and roll my eyes.

My thoughts were once: “Submit to my husband? No thanks...”

However, I realized I was making that word “submission” more about me and less about God.

But a look at the scriptures reveals that marriage is a picture of the relationship between Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:21-23). And when we downplay submission in marriage, we dull the beautiful reflection of Christ and the church.

Unfortunately, “male bashing” in our culture makes it so easy to forget about the importance of masculine leadership in our marriages and churches. But sisters, we cannot lean so far one way trying to avoid male domination that we go to the other extreme and strip our husbands of their God given authority.

Submitting to our husbands authority doesn’t mean we cower and hide our talents. It means so much more. And it can be an incredible example of the love Christ has for the church and the authority He has over the church. Husbands are called to love and cherish their wives — even as Christ loved the Church. It means that he includes her in important decisions and considers her perspectives carefully and respectfully. Day by day, he should become increasingly sensitive to leading with love because he’ll ultimately answer to God for the way he treats his wife. Idk about you but I find comfort in that.

That said, I can hear the whisper of some of my sweet friends, “what if my husbands not a believer?” and to that I would say, submission does not mean a woman should follow her husband into sin...we are told in 1 Peter 3:1-2 that a woman can win her husband to Christ by leading by example in her conduct and fear of the Lord. Never under estimate the power of your godly example and prayer.

We are in dire need of men and women to stand up and reclaim the biblical example of marriage. We are in desperate need for men to regain their leadership in the church and in their families.

And I think one way to do that is by reclaiming the power of biblical submission in marriage. Let’s pray for our men to step up and start leading, and let’s be women who submit, inspire, encourage, and keep them running the race.