No one likes or wants to live by this word. It’s one of the most difficult word for men to accept, let alone hear. This word has started wars and disagreements, led to divorces and countless disagreements. We’re quick to say it to someone else but never accept it from someone. Many of us feel it’s a word that doesn’t even belong in our vocabulary, after all a real man would never…submit.
Let’s get granular and clearly define what submission is. Submission is defined as “the action or fact of accepting or yielding to a superior force or to the will or authority of another person.” Here is the problem for us men and how our pride seems to seep into this situation. When younger I struggled with working for “the man”. For many years when I worked for someone it was because I was always thinking about how I would benefit from that job. I had little read for my employer because I just saw them as a cold exchange for services and money.
As time went by, I started to realize this was a selfish and empty proposition. One day as I looked at my resume, I was convicted about jumping from “relationship” to another. It was all about me. Not surprisingly, my walk with the Lord was a direct reflection of this. I won’t say that I had a road to Damascus moment then but looking back, a seed of submission was planted in me. In time, the Lord started to call me back little by little.
Submission
He placed things in my life that required me to learn different aspects of submission. Things like my job, marriage, children, church, etc. The true turning point came one day when I fully surrendered everything to him. This included my business, marriage, children, church, etc. My prayer was “do what you will”. I had become tired of the push and pull, the fatigue of trying to get my way. I felt like that man in James 1:8 .
This is where the struggle with submission is. As a believer, we erroneously think the more we push, desire, will, work for or even pray for something then we’ll get it. The truth is God will sometime gives us what we’re asking to make us realize what we there asking for was not the best for us. Contrary to what we think, submission to our Christ is the greatest form of liberation we will ever receive. Truly rendering everything to Him knowing He is in control will free every aspect of your life. It will be challenging but then, nothing in life worthwhile comes easy.
Encouragement:
Submission to our Christ is liberating not debilitating.
Challenge:
Submission does not come naturally. We must work hard at submitting.
What’s the first thing will you render up today?
