Beauty of Submission (Part 2)

(Sorry this is late. No Camp yet!! This will be my last book entry until after Camp is born).

Carolyn Mahaney takes us on a submission tour following one of scripture’s most penetrating passages on this topic of wives submitting to their husbands.

1 Peter 3:1-6 (New International Version, ©2011)
1 Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2 when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. 3 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. 4 Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. 5 For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands.

Verse 1: Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives.

This command is to the wives. Submission is not our husbands’ idea and neither are they responsible to enforce it. The requirement to submit to your husband comes straight from God. The responsibility is ours! Secondly, as married women we are not to submit to all men, but rather to our husbands. We are to be subject to our own husbands no matter how worthy or respectable another man may be.

“Be Subject,” is an altogether honorable role that calls forth the full measure of our energy, ability and godly character. Wifely submission is our divine calling to honor and affirm our husband’s leadership and help carry it through with our gifts. God has graced each of us with unique gifts that He intends for us to use to support our husbands. However, when a conflict of opinion arises that cannot be resolved, they are responsible to decide and we are responsible to honor and affirm their leadership. We must never follow our husbands into sin. Our preeminent authority is God himself and at no time should our submission violate any of His expressed commands.

Submission is a powerful dynamic force that can actually influence an unbelieving husband. God will use a wife’s submissive heart to draw an unbelieving husband to Himself. Our act of submission preaches a lovelier and more powerful sermon than our mouth ever could.

Verse 2: When they see your respectful and pure conduct.

Here scripture specifies the attitude of our submissive conduct: It is to be respectful and pure. We are to show respect to our husbands. Are we in awe or revere or treat our husbands’ special? Do we respect them with our tone, words and body language? When we esteem our husbands they will strive to be worthy of respect, and simultaneously our own feelings of respect will grow. When gratitude and respect are cultivated for our husbands, we find more and more to respect.

Verses 3-5: Do not let adorning be external-the braiding of hair, the wearing of gold, or the putting on of clothing-4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. 5 for this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their husbands.

Submission makes us beautiful. Submission is the secret to authentic, timeless beauty. This beauty is not a physical one. 1 Peter 3 promises that we will indeed grow lovelier as we cultivate submissive hearts. This attractiveness is real, tangible, and visible to others. This beauty in God’s sight is very precious. Submission endows us with an altogether different kind of beauty, the kind that God sees and prizes-and the only kind of beauty that counts.

Our ability to submit proceeds from a resolute trust in God. Scripture doesn’t tell us to place our hope in our husbands. They are sinners just as we are. God never intended that our husbands bear the weight of our complete dependence. Rather, He wants us to depend wholly on Him. If we invest all our confidence in our husband’s leadership, character or gifting, we will wind up anxious and disappointed.

Submission in its simplest form is trust in God who is completely trustworthy. He is our loving father who controls every detail of our lives-past, present and future. God will never allow any action against you that is not in accord with His will for you. And His will is always directed to our good.

The question we must answer is, “Am I prepared to trust God to lead my husband, to lead me?” The true woman is not afraid to place herself in a position of submission. She does not have to control. Her fear dissolves in the light of God’s covenant promise to be her God and to live within her. Submission is simply a demonstration of her confidence in the sovereign power of the Lord.

If we embrace God’s plan for our lives and purpose to obey His commands, God will develop in us the beauty of submission. He will develop in us the beauty of submission. He will enable us to trust Him to lead our husbands to lead us.

Take Home:
Ask your husband to give you a grade in respect. Ask him to share why he gave you the grade the he did. Seek his forgiveness if necessary. Then communicate to him at least one quality you respect about him.