Devotional by Mrs. Molly Audiss
(From Christian Womanhood's weekly evotions)
Ephesians 5:21 "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God."
A very damaging philosophy was started and embraced in our country in the 1960s and 1970s--feminism. This teaching really took hold of the female population, and it has not let go since. No matter how godly our mothers were, or how well they trained us, any girl growing up since the 1970s has feminism "in her blood," because it saturates everything in our society. We must be aware of this wrong philosophy, and we must be able to discern if this wrong thinking has corrupted our own minds.
I have heard many Christian ladies speak on the topic of submission. This topic is so opposite of the world's femininistic view, that, each time I hear teaching on this subject, the speaker must first spend a few minutes "disarming" the audience, just to get a crowd of women to give her a hearing. The ERA movement has really sold us a bill of goods, telling us that submission is a very bad thing.
Submission is actually a very biblical and Christlike characteristic. Submission is not a woman being a slave and a doormat to her husband. Submission is, very simply, unselfishness. It is wanting the other person to get his way. It is giving up what we want for someone else. Jesus showed us the example of true submission when He came to earth and died on the cross. Philippians 2:7 and 8 says, "But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."
Submission is not just for the husband-wife relationship. This kind of selfless living is the way that God expects each Christian to act toward all human beings. Submission is to be used toward parents, siblings, children, coworkers, employers, neighbors, strangers driving in the car next to us on the road, etc.
The book of Ruth is all about submission. Ruth shows nothing but unselfishness throughout this story. Her submission was mainly toward her mother-in-law. Allow me to point out something interesting in the Scriptures. There are two sets of verses in the Old Testament that are often used to show love and commitment between two lovers.
1. Genesis 31:49 "The LORD watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another." This verse is usually found on a necklace divided into two halves. Each person wears one half.
2. These verses are often found on wedding programs. Ruth 1:16 and 17 "...Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if oiught but death part thee and me."
The interesting thing about these verses is that neither one of them has a romantic origin. Both of these verses are conversations between in-laws. The first reference is spoken by Laban to his son-in-law Jacob. The other verses are spoken by Ruth to her mother-in-law Naomi. Sometimes an in-law relationship is a tense one. I thank God for the wonderful bond I have with my mother-in-law; but oftentimes there can be strains in in-law relationships. I think that the Lord wants to teach us that, even in difficult relationships, submission is always the answer!
Look at how unselfish Ruth is. She leaves her own country, her own family, and everything she has ever known to stay with her mother-in-law and be a help to her. Then, she humbles herself and gleans (which is close to begging) in a field so that she and Naomi will not starve. Later, on Naomi's request, Ruth swallows her pride again as she agrees to ask a rich land owner to marry her because it was his duty! That is what you call unselfishness. Thankfully, everything works out, and, like Cinderella, Ruth marries the rich man and goes down in history.
The Lord is not interested in our looking out for "number one." He wants us to submit in our relationships. As always, this is the direct opposite of what the world tells us is the way to happiness. But our God knows that the surest way for us to be happy is for us to live unselfish lives. It is not natural--it is supernatural--we will need the Lord's help every day if we endeavor to die to our own wants and live for others. Let's swallow our pride, purge our minds of feminist thinking, and start today a life of submission.
Ephesians 5:21 "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God."
A very damaging philosophy was started and embraced in our country in the 1960s and 1970s--feminism. This teaching really took hold of the female population, and it has not let go since. No matter how godly our mothers were, or how well they trained us, any girl growing up since the 1970s has feminism "in her blood," because it saturates everything in our society. We must be aware of this wrong philosophy, and we must be able to discern if this wrong thinking has corrupted our own minds.
I have heard many Christian ladies speak on the topic of submission. This topic is so opposite of the world's femininistic view, that, each time I hear teaching on this subject, the speaker must first spend a few minutes "disarming" the audience, just to get a crowd of women to give her a hearing. The ERA movement has really sold us a bill of goods, telling us that submission is a very bad thing.
Submission is actually a very biblical and Christlike characteristic. Submission is not a woman being a slave and a doormat to her husband. Submission is, very simply, unselfishness. It is wanting the other person to get his way. It is giving up what we want for someone else. Jesus showed us the example of true submission when He came to earth and died on the cross. Philippians 2:7 and 8 says, "But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."
Submission is not just for the husband-wife relationship. This kind of selfless living is the way that God expects each Christian to act toward all human beings. Submission is to be used toward parents, siblings, children, coworkers, employers, neighbors, strangers driving in the car next to us on the road, etc.
The book of Ruth is all about submission. Ruth shows nothing but unselfishness throughout this story. Her submission was mainly toward her mother-in-law. Allow me to point out something interesting in the Scriptures. There are two sets of verses in the Old Testament that are often used to show love and commitment between two lovers.
1. Genesis 31:49 "The LORD watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another." This verse is usually found on a necklace divided into two halves. Each person wears one half.
2. These verses are often found on wedding programs. Ruth 1:16 and 17 "...Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if oiught but death part thee and me."
The interesting thing about these verses is that neither one of them has a romantic origin. Both of these verses are conversations between in-laws. The first reference is spoken by Laban to his son-in-law Jacob. The other verses are spoken by Ruth to her mother-in-law Naomi. Sometimes an in-law relationship is a tense one. I thank God for the wonderful bond I have with my mother-in-law; but oftentimes there can be strains in in-law relationships. I think that the Lord wants to teach us that, even in difficult relationships, submission is always the answer!
Look at how unselfish Ruth is. She leaves her own country, her own family, and everything she has ever known to stay with her mother-in-law and be a help to her. Then, she humbles herself and gleans (which is close to begging) in a field so that she and Naomi will not starve. Later, on Naomi's request, Ruth swallows her pride again as she agrees to ask a rich land owner to marry her because it was his duty! That is what you call unselfishness. Thankfully, everything works out, and, like Cinderella, Ruth marries the rich man and goes down in history.
The Lord is not interested in our looking out for "number one." He wants us to submit in our relationships. As always, this is the direct opposite of what the world tells us is the way to happiness. But our God knows that the surest way for us to be happy is for us to live unselfish lives. It is not natural--it is supernatural--we will need the Lord's help every day if we endeavor to die to our own wants and live for others. Let's swallow our pride, purge our minds of feminist thinking, and start today a life of submission.
1 comment:
Thanks for posting this, Naomi! It was a good reminder! =)
Love you, sister!
~ Hannah
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