Every day, I see this little sign in my house…
…and, this one hangs over my desk…
…then, there’s this one upstairs…
…all, in-your-face-admonitions for us aliens and strangers, that in order to love others and to “keep our behavior excellent (1 Peter 2:12),” we’ll need to “submit ourselves for the Lord’s sake…(vs. 13).” Oh, that word! Yet, Jesus-Kind-of-Lovers are willing to follow this exhortation in order to “follow in His steps (vs. 21).” So, in spite of whether we want to ban that word, submit, from the dictionary, or our personal vocabulary, or not, we are to step up to the plate and yield. In fact, we can’t truly love one another if there’s not a death-to-self, and a submission One-to-the-Other. This truth is not just a little blip on the biblical screen from one chapter in the New Testament, either. We see this concept of submission sprinkled in and throughout the entire Bible.
In spite of it’s biblical fact, the concept of submission causes no small amount of angst inside me. Then Peter, as well, has the nerve to say this “…do what is right without being frightened by any fear.” Do what is right: SUBMIT. Without being frightened by any fear: NO FEAR!
How can I lose the fear? Another of the at-Jesus’-right-hand apostles, John, gives us the answer. This apostle, known as the Disciple of Love, said this, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another…There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love because he first loved us (1 John 4:11, 18, 19).”
Here is my reality: I fear losing myself in submission. I think that’s the heart issue of all of us who find ourselves struggling with the word. If I submit, do I become something I am not? If I keep yielding, do I just become a puppet, a mere shadow of myself? Do I lose my personhood, or, possibly, disappear altogether? Am I simply a robotic Stepford woman (which, by the way, I have been accused of before)? You see, at the root, the major heart issue, of us who fear submission is a problem with worship. We have become very attached to our-self!
John’s answer eliminates this fear, because when we, as believers, give ourselves to Jesus, we set self aside, in order to give the ONLY ONE worthy of worship a place in our hearts. There isn’t room for me…and him. Any time, I’m filling my heart, of course there will be fear. I’m not a very trustworthy source when it comes to doing life. However, when I gave my life to Jesus, I, by choice, hid myself, in the only Perfect Love who casts out fear. When I’m hidden in Jesus, under the shadow of His wings, no longer do I fear submission, because I have chosen a perfect place of protection. HOWEVER, here’s the BIG DEAL of submission…When I chose to hide myself in Jesus, He gave me a new identity, a better identity, a Child-of-the-King identity. That new woman never needs to fear losing herself, because she becomes a better version of who she is. I truly don’t want any part of that old me; not any! Now, I know every once in a while, self still gets in the way, and my heart fills with fear. As soon as I recognize, fear’s presence, that’s an indicator I need to do a little throne replacement. Back to the altar, I go… So, if that means, I’m just a Stepford woman, then so be it! Though, I’d rather be seen as a Jesus-woman…