The second area we must be disciplined in cultivating a life shaped by submission. Submission is one of those terms that can be widely misunderstood and can have negative connotations associated with it. It can be regarded as degrading or belittling. We can assume that to submit is to be a doormat and just blindly agree to what another person commands of us. We can also have a narrow view of submission. Thinking submission has something to do with marriage and a woman’s relationship to her husband (which it does), or perhaps a woman’s role in the church (which it does). But we can think if we are not married or not active in the church, submission is something we don’t need to think about.
So what is submission and what does it mean for us as Christian women? Put simply submission is yielding to the authority of another. And for Christians the authority that we must yield to is God’s. The gospel reveals the truth that Jesus is Lord. Peter Jensen, former archbishop of Sydney, puts it this way, “There was a monumental difference between Jesus and the other prophets of the Bible. Not only did Jesus bring a message from God; he himself was the chief content of the message he brought. He announced the kingdom and he revealed that he was its King.” The message of the Bible is clear: Jesus is Lord and as such when we commit to follow him we submit our lives to his loving rule. We bring everything in our lives into submission under His will. We loosen the grip we have on our plans for our lives and instead place ourselves in God’s hands. We allow him to call the shots.
There are many pictures of submission in action in the Bible. But I find Mary, the mother of Jesus’ submission beautiful in its simplicity. A young girl is chosen by God. A angel brings her the message that she is to bear a child, the long-awaited Saviour. And what is Mary’s response? Her answer is wonderful in its brevity and so full of trust, “I am the Lord’s servant…May it be to me as you have said” (Luke 1v38). There is no further questioning, no argument, no fuss. A 19th Century Free Church Minister, Alexander Moody Stuart commented that if Abraham is the great example of faith in the Old Testament, then Mary is the supreme example of faith in the New. I would tend to agree. Against all human reckoning, compromising her personal reputation, risking the loss of the man she loved, she believed God.
And before Mary’s example of submission becomes something we use to beat ourselves with we need to see where her submission comes from. Her song in Luke 1 reveals why she was able to respond with such submission. We see a heart and mind steeped in Scripture, a passionate concern for the nation and for God’s glory. She sang of God’s goodness, his grace, his mercy, his power and his promise to his people. Mary knew God, knew what he had done and what he promised to do. Because she knew God she was able to willingly submit to him whatever the personal cost to her. Which is why if we have live a life disciplined in understanding the gospel, the natural next step is a life disciplined in submission. It is the only natural outworking of the gospel. The gospel calls all believers to willingly to submit to what we know and trust about God. As we get to know him better and trust him more we will more and more readily submit to him as we know he is good and faithful. We will know he has our best interests at heart in all he asks us to do.
How do we become disciplined in living a life of submission? By firstly recognising that submitting is an ongoing, daily choosing of God’s ways over our own ways. We will struggle with submission all our lives. Our hearts want our own way so we need to choose to follow God’s way. I think we need to be proactive in recognising the areas where we most readily struggle with submission and having God as king.
Secondly, we need to look at all the roles we fulfil that require us to submit in a godly way: child, employee, citizen, wives, church members and children of God. Do we know what God requires of us? Do we know what his word says? In order to submit to God’s will we need to know what his will is.
Secondly, we need to look at all the roles we fulfil that require us to submit in a godly way: child, employee, citizen, wives, church members and children of God. Do we know what God requires of us? Do we know what his word says? In order to submit to God’s will we need to know what his will is.
Next we need to go back and preach the gospel to ourselves. We need to revisit what God has done in Jesus. As we reflect on his mercy, compassion and faithfulness through the cross our only response should be to do what God wants for us. And we need to look to Jesus. Jesus is the ultimate example of submission. In the garden of Gethsemane we see Jesus completely submit to God’s will. His prayer reveals Jesus’ intense desire to submit to God’s will no matter what it cost him. Doing the will of God was more important than life itself. Do we have the same attitude? If not learn from Jesus. Follow his example.
Finally, practicing the discipline of submission will not happen without prayer. As we face again and again the choice between God’s will and our own, we need to ask for God’s help to bring our will in line with his. It is only through prayer that our will bends to God’s. E. Stanley Jones, a missionary, explained it like this, “If I throw a boathook from the boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but the aligning of my will to the will of God.” Prayer then is not about getting God to do my bidding, but the shaping and bending of my will until it aligns with His.
Therefore, if we want to live a life of submission which comes from an understanding of the gospel, we must be disciplined in cultivating a life fuelled by prayer. Tomorrow we will finish this series look at how we can be disciplined in prayer.
