SUBMISSION,
OF WIVES TO THEIR HUSBANDS
ONE day, while I was out of town speaking at Promise Keepers, the National Organization for Women (NOW) was marching outside the gates of the event location. They were complaining about the word submit. They were saying that word makes women second-class citizens. But at the same time the president of NOW was on TV complaining about the word submit, I heard her call her vice president and give her instructions to fulfill a certain task. I thought to myself, Well, if the word submit is that bad, why are you, the president, calling the vice president, expecting her to do something based on your word?
You see, it’s only a bad word when it’s in an arena we don’t like.938
[Marriage; Women, and Their Husbands]
1 Cor. 11:3; Eph. 5:22–23
MANY women have a problem with submission because they think, “But I am smarter than my husband. I make more money than my husband. I am more educated than my husband. I have more common sense than my husband. I can’t submit to him.”
Well, let’s suppose an eighteen-wheeler is trying to merge onto the freeway. Let’s also assume that the Volkswagen is coming down the expressway so it has the right-of-way. The eighteen-wheeler has to yield. Now, the eighteen-wheeler may have more clout than the Volkswagen, but the Volkswagen has the right-of-way. Can the eighteen-wheeler say, “Because I have more than you have, you stop on the highway and let me on”? If there is an accident, it is the eighteen-wheeler that is going to be at fault, because even though it’s got more stuff, it is operating illegitimately.
Submission has nothing to do with how much you bring to the table. Submission has nothing to do with how much education, how much clout, or how much notoriety a woman has; it has to do with God’s ordained role.939
[Marriage; Women, and Their Husbands]
1 Cor. 11:3; Eph. 5:22–23
IF THE president of the United States were to walk into a room, everyone would stand up, even the ones who didn’t vote for him. Everyone would stand, even the ones who don’t agree with his philosophy or programs. Why? Because he is the president by position, regardless of your vote. In other words, enough people in this country voted for him to override your feelings and opinions about him and he is still to be respected because of his position.
Now, you can feel any kind of way you want to feel, but you must still honor his position, even if you didn’t vote for the person. Ladies, God has already voted for your husband and His vote is the only one that counts. He has elevated your husband to the position of leader in the home. You must respect that position.940
[Marriage; Women, and Their Husbands]
1 Cor. 11:3; Eph. 5:22–23