Dearly Beloved Children Submitting

Dearly Beloved Children

Submitting

What if everybody had one of these buttons?

What if we all took the time to hear each other out?

Do you have a submit button?

The word submit or submission

have been cause of much anxiety.

The Bible is very clear about

the importance of submission.

The Bible also lays out the lines

of authority and submission.

Unfortunately, many of us miss

maybe the most important message

in the Bible about submission.

No one, but God,

has all authority and revelation.

Therefore, those of us

who are in a place of authority

should remember we are limited.

As a leader, I need to realize there are times

I need to submit to those who submit to me. 

Can you image what it would be like

if we truly considered others

better than ourselves?

The Bible tells my wife

to submit to her husband.

Sandy is submissive to me,

but we walk side by side.

I realize that before God,

the buck stops with me.

I also recognize that she

has many God-given insights

that I cannot properly lead without.

There are times in life

 where she has the greater abilities

and insights than me.

  

Things she needed to take charge of

and I needed to support her

without feeling threatened.

Many leaders walk alone

because they have not discovered

that God’s beloved children

are to submit to one another.

It is much easier to submit to someone

who understands what it is to be submissive

than to someone who

only understands authority.

Submitting to one another

takes caring and sharing.

Submitting to one another

is for everyone.

Scripture Reading

Ephesians 5:21 NIV

21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

1 Corinthians 16:15-16 NIV

15 You know that the household of Stephanas

were the first converts in Achaia,

and they have devoted themselves

to the service of the saints.

I urge you, brothers,

16 to submit to such as these

and to everyone who joins in the work,

and labors at it.

Matthew 23:8-12 NIV

8 "But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,'

for you have only one Master and you are all brothers.

9 And do not call anyone on earth 'father,'

for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.

10 Nor are you to be called 'teacher,'

for you have one Teacher, the Christ.  

11 The greatest among you will be your servant.

12 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled,

and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Luke 22:24-30 NIV

24 Also a dispute arose among them

as to which of them was considered to be greatest.

25 Jesus said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them;

and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors.

26 But you are not to be like that.

Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest,

and the one who rules like the one who serves.

27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves?

Is it not the one who is at the table?

But I am among you as one who serves.

28 You are those who have stood by me in my trials.

29 And I confer on you a kingdom,

just as my Father conferred one on me,

30 so that you may eat and drink

at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones,

judging the twelve tribes of Israel.