Submission

I was listening to a presentation on woman ordination by Jennifer Arruda and she got me thinking and I've been blessed and chastined.Especially when she started talking about God's order of the family:the man as the head and the wife submissive.And the sad thing is,marriage is NOT after God's order these days.We've got wives who call for 50/50,who talk anyhow to their husbands and this is one thing I pray I never do to my husband.Can't imagine raising my voice to him-but I'm not there yet;but I know God will help me.

There's something sad about watching a wife speak anyhow to the husband.It's really demeaning and I pray that as women we may accept that men have been called by God to lead and we are t be submissive to them.We are not to raise our voices to them.But this is my thought:if we aren't submissive to God first,our brothers and our fathers and all male leadership in our lives,how will we respect our husbands?

I know of a wife who calls the husband by name.It might seem like a little thing,but now the kids grow up knowing the name of their father-personally I find this faulty.Xhosa women often refer to their husband as "taka..."...calling them as the father of their children.We need that back.Submission doesn't mean slave or inferior,but it's God's order.Hope these 2 quotes will do justice to the point  I'm trying to bring home.

"Acceptance of the divinely ordered hierarchy means acceptance of authority-first of all,God's authority and then those lesser authorities which He has ordained.A husband and a wife are both under God,but their positions are not the sane.A wife is to submit herself to the husband.The husband's rank is given to him by God,as the angels and animals rank are assigned,not chosen or earned.The mature man acknowledges that he did not earn or deserve his place by superior intelligence,virtue,strength,or amiability.The mature woman acknowledges that submission is the will of God for her,and obedience to this will is no more a sign of weakness in her than it was in the Son of Man when He said,"Lo,I come-to do Thy will,O God."~Elisabeth Elliot

"It is the woman's delighted yielding to the man's leading that gives him freedom.It is the man's willingness to take the lead that gives her freedom.Acceptance of their respective position frees them whirls them into joy"~Elisabeth Elliot

And every command is for our own good and joy!

Submission

It's my prayer that our own experiences may not interfere with God's word and the way we view it,especially when it comes to male leadership and our roles as women.

I was raised by mom-God bless her!And so I never got to see how a family was supposed to be like as God had intended it to be-with the Father as the provider and the head of the family and the mother submitting to the man,a home keeper etc.So,my conclusion towards marriage was that I'll first work,get my degree and probably when I'm 30 get married-atleast I'd be independent and I'd support myself.No need to be depend on a man,so I said.

Then I later learnt the concept of the wife submitting to the male.Because I grew up without a father,I perceived this as making women inferior.Plus,if the man who was supposed to take care of me didn't,what good is a man that I should submit to him?After all,mom did a better job.But through God's grace I learnt that Christ submits to God-the father,even though he's equal to him (Philippians 2:6).And the Lord is still molding me regarding this.

See,man and females were both created by God and they both have equal worth in him but he-God,in his wisdom,has designated different roles for the both of them.He created men to be masculine and females feminine-soft,caring,etc--those womanly traits we possess.Now,my sisters,let us not allow our view of our fathers or the males who hurt us in various ways taint our view of God's order.It is God himself who has called the men to be heads/lead.Just like God allowed mankind to have dominion over creation,He has created the women to submit.It's the role we are supposed to fill.Submission is something one does freely-not with force.Just as Christ doesn't force us to keep his commandments-we choose to,so is submission-unforced,freely done and it doesn't make the one submitting inferior.It's God's way.

In fact,in marriage we see God's love for us and the husbands represent God.While the wife represents the church.Isn't it beautiful?Orderly.

If we understand this then we'll understand that God has called males to fill specific roles like being pastors,elders and we'll understand that it is his order-not man's.Just like God the Father comes first,then the Son and the Holy Spirit in that order.But does that mean Jesus is a nobody-no!He has a different role from God-the Father.We pray to the Father,Jesus is our High Priest and the Holy Spirit is our teacher,and he brings regeneration in us.All these roles are of equal importance in our lives.
May we as sisters possess the mind that was in Christ-meekness.

I pray that we may accept our God-given roles.In fact,one gift God has given us is the gift of influence,amongst many.But sadly,in the Bible we've seen how women have influenced their husbands to evil/to mistrust
God(Eve,Jezebel,Sarah).But at the same time we see how women have influenced men to good-like Abigail who prevented David from murdering Nabal by her wise,well-selected words.We see how women have brought up godly men:Like Mary who raised Jesus,John's mother-Elisabeth and Timothy's mom.There's so much good we can do,within our spheres,starting with the clothes we choose to buy,the food we eat,the conversation we relate in and in the way we relate to others.

Let's not allow society to define womanhood for us,instead let us allow God-who created us to do so.And with meekness may we understand that we are not called to be pastors and elders.If we accept that,then it will be easier to accept God's ideal for marriage and the God-head.In fact,if we seek to be these,then that means we are reversing God's order.Instead,we are saying "The wives are the heads,the husbands are to submit.And Christ must submit to the church".And sadly,we'll then go on to say,there is a she-God.

#REVELATION