"Let's Ride Life Out Together"
"REMEMBER YOUR ROLES: A Husband has his, a wife has hers. What is the role of the wife? Be in subjection to your own husband. Husbands and wives are spiritually equal but they are not the same. God made us different that he may make us one. It is the devil’s guise to attempt to make men and women alike, under the guise of making them equal. They are equal but they are not alike. God made the husband with a harder exterior and he made his wife gentle and fragile, he calls her the weaker vessel NOT the inferior vessel. Steel is stronger than porcelain. You can drive a spike with a sledge hammer but you can't drink tea out of it, you can drink tea out of a porcelain tea cup. Silk is more fragile and beautiful than denim but doesn’t mean that denim, although a lot stronger, is intrinsically worth more.
There are roles God has given the husband, as the headship in the home and we need to understand this. The wife should be in submission to her own husband, that’s not inferiority. Submission is one equal voluntarily placing himself under another equal that God may thereby be glorified. God made us different that it may make us one. What we need to understand is voluntary submission of a husband as the head of the home, not the boss of the home. Jesus is the head of the world but NEVER once made me or you do one blessed thing. Jesus leads by servant love. Most women don’t mind being in subjection to a man who loves her enough to die for her and shows her that he lives for her. Headship for the husband doesn’t mean privilege, it means responsibility just like the shepherd is responsible for the sheep and the parent is responsible for the child, the husband has a responsibility before God.
Marriage is not a contract. Marriage is a covenant where two people mutually enter together. When you look at marriage as a contract, you might try to look for ways to break the contract. When you look at marriage as a contract you think about your rights. When you look at marriage as a COVENANT, you think about your responsibilities. So remember your roles."
I struggle with the "submission" concept, just like maybe a lot of wives out there would. As a woman of today, having experienced single parenthood where biting the bullet and being forced to be strong and alone on a daily basis, it is difficult to give up that strength all of a sudden to a husband. It will surely take some practice to slowly let it go, and become vulnerable again. A paradigm shift is necessary and a lot of focusing on God's will, not our own. I believe we will continue to be tested in this area until we are able to see the beauty it brings into a wholesome, happy life and lasting love. To some women this comes easy but to others like me, it isn't. I believe that in the same token, an understanding husband, one who stands behind God, gives up his own life to Him and practices the ideals of the Bible would perhaps make the wife voluntarily submit to him as a the head of the unit.
I have met men who use this verse for their own egotistical purposes, so be aware. If it doesn't feel right, then maybe it isn't. A wife's role is to also guide her husband by example as well as living up to God's standard. Is it difficult? YES! Is it worth it? Also, YES.
Again, submission does not equate to enslavement, BIG difference. Submission is trust, respect and Godliness.
Until Part 3... LOVE ONE ANOTHER!!!
