Submission.
Colossians 3:18 says for us to submit to our husbands as it is fit in the Lord. The trouble is that so much of the society has filtered into Christian marriages, that many of us don't know what is fit in the Lord anymore.
I like to simplify things as I teach them to the Blossoms, so we simplify submission in to this:
Daddy's the boss. Then, there's Mommy and then, there's the girlies, but Daddy's the boss. They know the chain of command. They know that Daddy reports to God and nobody else.
I tell them that in a happy way. It doesn't bother me. I'm glad to live in the structure God set up. Why do Christian wives struggle with this so?
This Mommy doesn't boss Daddy around. Or, if I do, or am tempted to, I apologize. Because that's me falling into sin. (Yes, insubordination is sin, because I was commanded to submit to my husband.) Hey, I was the oldest child of four. I'm good at bossin'. It's one of my "mad skills." It has served me well as a mother. But, I don't boss Daddy.
I don't make final decisions. My husband values my opinion highly and listens when I talk. But there's a time to be quiet and quit giving my opinion. The Rugged Mountain Man makes the final decision. God holds him accountable for those decisions and the results of those decisions.
I don't direct this family. We go in the direction that the Rugged Mountain Man leads. Yes, I definitely have an opinion. (C'mon, you all know that I always have an opinion.) He has taken that into consideration so much so, that we doggedly pursued a house that I loved and was convinced was meant for us... as in, totally a "God thing." It wasn't. I was wrong (or the timing was wrong - still not sure on that). We pursued, but in the end, I KNEW that I must go with my husband's wisdom, even though I was in love with that house. I coul
dn't deny the checks of the Holy Spirit or the things I knew my husband was right about. I don't direct this family and I am not the Holy Spirit.
Some people think that a Christian husband who is being submitted to is getting off scott-free. That's so untrue. The Rugged Mountain Man is being held accountable to God for a family of six! SO MUCH WEIGHTY RESPONSIBILITY.
You know what? I don't want to be my husband's Holy Spirit! It's freeing to submit and follow with a Godly attitude. I'm responsible for my attitude. I'm responsible for how I submit. Did I do it with a happy heart? Did I do it willingly? Submission only feels like a nasty word because we've let society tinge it for us. If God told me to submit, it's a good thing. I don't care how old-fashioned or stone-aged it sounds. I'm gonna submit, by God's grace.
