Submissiveness
“Submit to one another out of reverence to Christ.” – Ephesians 5:21
Definition: Willingness to yield to an authority or other person’s will.
Reason Chosen: Submit. It has become like a four letter word in our society. People often recoil when they hear the word. Submission may at first appear as oppression. However, that certainly is not what it was originally intended. The reason it has been tainted is because what leadership has become. The rulers of this world often use their power and wealth to suppress those under their headship. They abuse the power they have been given. The Bible describes what leadership is intended to look like from a godly perspective. “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone. For even the Son of Man (Jesus) came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:42-45) Would you have a hard time submitting to someone with that heart? Would you struggle to submit to someone who you knew loved you, wanted the best for you and was willing to show it in their words and actions? I don’t think it would be too difficult. Yes, submission has been tainted by the world because leaders are not living up to their end of the bargain. However, I still think there is enormous value in teaching our children to submit. First, I want them to submit to God. God loves us. He created us. His will for our lives is greater than we can ever understand. Submitting to His will can only bring us greater contentment. Secondly, I want them to learn to submit to us. We have nothing but the greatest intentions for our children. We are trying so hard to raise them in such a way that will best benefit their lives. As they begin to trust us and submit, we believe they can grow in ways that will only make their lives better. Of course, this is a great responsibility for us to be the servant leaders the Lord intended. Next, we want them to learn to submit, one day, to their spouse. We pray for them that they will find spouses that honor them in the way we would hope. We also know that their husbands can be won over by the faithfulness of a respectful wife. Finally, we want them to learn to submit to authority. There is a time to not submit if there are moral ramifications. After all, we are suppose to submit to God’s law above all. However, we need to teach our kids respectful ways to deal with the authorities in their lives – other adults, teachers and bosses. Don’t be fooled by world’s view of submission. The Biblical intention is a beautiful picture of us yielding to the loving, servant leaders in our lives.
Word Ring At the beginning of each week, the craft will be exactly the same because we will simply be adding a new word to our already established word ring.
Materials Needed
* Stock Card Paper (I had a whole stack like this – found at any craft store)
* Assorted Sticker Letters (I just bought a bunch on clearance at Michael’s)
* Binder Clips (Craft Store)
* Paper Cutter or Scissors
* Hole Punch
The girls chose a paper style they thought would look good with the letters they chose. We then helped them sound out “submissiveness.” They took turns finding the letters we needed and sticking them on the paper…they’re kids – the letters will not be stuck on perfect. I then cut the paper to the same size as the paper from last week. We punched a hole in the corner and stuck it on our binding clip. Each week, a new word will be added to the clip in similar fashion. I then wrote the Bible verse on the back. If your kids are older, have them do it themselves. We’ll spend this week learning the word, meaning and memorizing the scripture.
This is a wonderful post. I love how you explain this. You are right- people are always put off by the word “submit”. Many do not understand it in the way the Lord intended it to be. I am going to share this on my personal Facebook page as I think a lot of my friends and family would also like this post. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much, Shelley. I am really praying this week changes some hearts about the concept.