I am the husband to my wonderful wife of 27 years, Donna. Father of three children. Minister for the South 11th and Willis Church of Christ in Abilene, Texas.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Virtue?
Is submission a virtue? Or is it just becoming a doormat? What does it look like to be strong and to submit?
Don, I think that submission properly understood is to be a virtue. It's not simply to lie down and accept everything that comes your way but it is a conscious act of placing the needs of the other in front of your own. In a world like our where so much is based on hierarchy one of the most common ways that we can do this is to make our selves 'interruptable.' The question is not "Am I going to simply let people walk over me?" but "Am I willing to stop what I am doing, that might and probably is all about me, and focus on the needs of someone else?" If I am in a position of some kind of authority can the people I am over interrupt my work like I can interrupt theirs? There are probably a host of other ways we can submit to one another but this is one I can think of.
I've learned a lot about submission by being a mother. There are times when I choose what is in my children's best interest even though it is absolutely not what I want. But because I love them more than life, I gladly give up my own desires for them. I suppose submission becomes much easier when we love another "more than life." I know that deep love is what we should aspire to have for all people - not just our immediate family members. And once that deep love exists for all, submission to all in the name of Christ just comes naturally. I'm guessing that deep love is the key to how Jesus demonstrated the ultimate submission; there's no doubt that he loves us more than life!
Every time I think I understand the Father, he reminds me how different I am from him. Every time I am made to feel so different, he touches me with his Spirit and the grace of Jesus to remind me how near we are to him.
4 comments:
Don, I think that submission properly understood is to be a virtue. It's not simply to lie down and accept everything that comes your way but it is a conscious act of placing the needs of the other in front of your own. In a world like our where so much is based on hierarchy one of the most common ways that we can do this is to make our selves 'interruptable.' The question is not "Am I going to simply let people walk over me?" but "Am I willing to stop what I am doing, that might and probably is all about me, and focus on the needs of someone else?" If I am in a position of some kind of authority can the people I am over interrupt my work like I can interrupt theirs? There are probably a host of other ways we can submit to one another but this is one I can think of.
Matt
Thank Matt - isn't it nice to be welcomed by someone whose time you feel is more valuable than your own? What a way to submit to the needs of others.
I've learned a lot about submission by being a mother. There are times when I choose what is in my children's best interest even though it is absolutely not what I want. But because I love them more than life, I gladly give up my own desires for them. I suppose submission becomes much easier when we love another "more than life." I know that deep love is what we should aspire to have for all people - not just our immediate family members. And once that deep love exists for all, submission to all in the name of Christ just comes naturally. I'm guessing that deep love is the key to how Jesus demonstrated the ultimate submission; there's no doubt that he loves us more than life!
"more than life"
Well said Katherine
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