S-U-B-M-I-S-S-I-O-N!

It's Monday er....Saturday but today is the day I have time to write....
 and time to participate in the Marriage Monday meme! 

 For more info head over to this blog!

Our topic today is Submission in Christian Marriage. 

Because I've written about this topic in a previous post some time ago, I thought I'd take the word and come up with a word for each letter,  that describes "submission"!

SUBMISSION

S-----SAVIOR  The first thing I think of when I think about submission in marriage....we need the Savior (Jesus!!) to bind us together.  He is the real "head of the household"...and our husband is to be like Christ in his role.  We need to be submitted to our Savior first!!

"Jesus said...'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment"Matthew 22:37 & 38 

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her...." Ephesians 5:25

 U-----UNITED   We are to be united, as a team, "one" with each other in order for submission to be fully embraced.....I think of it as more of a team effort NOT a man dominating over a woman..that is NOT what God intended.

"Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh."Genesis 2:24

B---BELIEVING  Believe in your marriage vows!  Believe that the Lord truly put you together......and act that way!  Stay believing in the sanctity of marriage as one of the sacraments. Marriage is a COVENANT!  and a COVENANT is serious, sacrificial and sacred. Remember this and it will help you through the rough times!

"Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."  Mark 10:9

M---MANNERS  Simply apply the "Golden Rule", found in the New Testament, to your husband.  Sometimes a spouse treats other people better than their partner!  If you have children, they need to see this concept of "manners" put into practice in the home!  It is easier to submit to one another, and to the Lord, when your manners are being practiced!

"Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you...and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you."  Ephesians 4:31 & 32

 I---INTIMATE  Stay intimate with your husband!  Not just physically intimate but emotionally and spiritually as well.  This could be a whole other topic!  It is one that I believe is THE most important one other than putting Christ first.  It will be hard to submit to one another if true intimacy, in all areas, is not evident in your lives. Marriage is a true blessing!! Embrace it!

"There are three things which are too wonderful for me, yes four which I do not understand:  the way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship in the midst of the sea, and the way of a man with a maiden."Proverbs 30:18 & 19

 S----SAFE  One of the first impressions I had from Dave, back when we were engaged, is that I felt like I had been holding my breath for years.  But...I was now safe.  There is safety in my marriage (excluding abusive situations which I won't be discussing at this time). I am free to be me....I am "safe"......kind of hard to explain here but the friends who know me intimately know what I mean by this.  Safe.  It's a blessed thing....and again, it is easier to submit to one another when you feel safe with one another.  This means not just physical safety but safety in being emotionally intimate.  Sharing deeply. SOOOOOO important!!

S---SECURE  Keep your marriage secured.....we do this by keeping it grounded in the faith and love, mercy and grace of God.  Lifting each other up in prayer, in daily life, with parenting issues.....whatever the Lord brings to us on our journey. 

I---INVOLVED  stay involved in your local church, in whatever ministry you are leading or are a part of, join marriage small groups if needed, do social things with other couples, and make sure you stay involved with your same sex friendships. It is healthy for your marriage to be able to talk with other women (and for our guys to have male friendships!) and cultivate those friendships.  Other couples and friends might be going through similar challenges or triumphs.  The body of Christ is like a village.....it takes all of us to grow, edify and encourage one another!  It is also good to have interests together and with other people!!  If your spouse travels for work and is gone a lot of the time (like mine did for the first 10 years of our marriage!), it is important to have close friendships to ward off loneliness, temptations, and just for moral support or babysitting support, help with young children, etc.  It will be easy to submit to one another if you have a network of support for those times when it is NOT so easy to submit.  You can toss ideas out to your closest, trusted friends and get their input.  ALWAYS be respectful towards your spouse when discussing certain situations...and be careful in honoring them.  Encourage one another to use your special giftings that God has blessed you with...this will aid your friendships AND your marriage! 

O---OVERLOOKING  Simply "pick your battles"....it's easy to submit to one another when everything is going smoothly on the walk.  It is much more difficult when bumps crop up along the way.....learn to overlook some of those annoying habits.  Or discuss them in a calm, respectful manner.  I have had to learn to overlook a lot of habits that Dave has....things like tossing his sweaters in a pile rather than folding them first on the shelf.  I finally decided they are his clothes.  If he wants his side of the closet messy, who cares? no one but us goes in there anyways! :)  Overlooking small things will help lessen the "drama" of the  bigger things...the things that you DO need to work on.

N---NOURISHING  have fun with this!  Make sure you and your spouse are encouraging each other to have a healthy diet, to be working out (this is hard for my husband...he hates it...but I so want him to be healthy and lose some weight!!). Nourish each other not just in the physical sense but in the emotional and spiritual sense.  Even the mental sense.  Provide each other with stimulating conversation, word games, (or math if that's your thing), talk about the books you are reading, read Scripture together or share what each other's small group is doing, attend church together, and spend time together weekly.  This will help each other be submissive to one another....it means you are looking out for the best interests in your partner!

Marriage can be tough...but together, practicing the presence of Christ and remembering to be "Christ-like" towards one another will help you to be submissive, in His Love, towards each other.

God bless you!!




Can you think of some ways that encourage you to be submissive to your marriage partner??