Trained Submission

For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.—John 6:38

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.—Romans 13:1-2

Submission is not a topic much discussed in our day. You don't hear men sitting around plotting ways to submit to authority. But we love it when others submit to us without a lot of questioning or pushback. Yet when we are challenged to yield, we often reject the discomfort, inconvenience, methodology, reasoning, and even required action. I've done it too. It's hard work to cultivate a positive attitude and prompt action when it comes to submission. But if Jesus is our example, our only option to submit, beginning with submission to God.

An essential mindset of submission is self-denial. Self-denial is definitively counter-cultural and opposes the modern emphasis on self-gratification. But submission plays by a "pay now or pay later" principle. We must come to terms with the fact that submission is inevitable. We submit during our lifetime, or we submit when Christ comes again—and the second submission bears serious unpleasantries if you've never done the first.

DO THIS: Choose to submit to God's authority.

PRAY THIS: God, where I refuse to submit to you, help me to learn the beauty of the submission of Christ. Aside from the pain and loss of submission help me to discover the joy of submission.