Benefits of Submission

Three years ago I wrote about the Power of Submission. I was newly married and had only one child. You can read that post here. I have been married 5 years now and am still learning daily the benefits of submission. 

It was brought to my attention by my mentor and close friend that the submitter bears fruit. It is easy to look at this and think, "of course its the woman who gets pregnant and gives birth to a child." Yes that is true but she was speaking of spiritual fruit. 

Bearing fruit is the first benefit of submission.

Genesis 1:11-12 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.  

Luke 8:15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

John 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

Gal 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Genesis 1 reveals to us the principal of bearing fruit. You can only bear that which you are. An orange tree cannot birth a lion, a lion cannot lay eggs, and eagle cannot control a hive of bees. Fruit can only be born of its own kind. Anything else is a mutation, and alteration to the original design. We have to submit to the principal. Submitting the the principal is not saying that you have to accept it, because wither or not you accept it, it will hold true. Submitting to the principle is understanding and utilizing it to your benefit. 

Luke lets us know that fruit is not immediate. It takes time and we must be patient. There are different incubation periods for different things. My peas only take 65 days from plant to harvest, my children took 9 to ten months to fully develop. We need to understand that the things God has placed in us will take patience, and time to come to fruition. Submitting to the timetable allows the fruit to fully mature. If I harvest my peas too soon, I won't be able to use them for their intended purpose. 

John tells us that in order to bear fruit you must be connected to what the original seed has produced. A plant cannot disconnect itself from the root and thrive. We need to be connected in order to bear fruit. We can look at our lives and see what we are connected to. Are we connected to consumerism? Selfishness? Fashion? Missions? Ministry? If we didn't tell anyone what we were connected to what would they assume based solely on our fruit?

We should produce love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance. This is a sign that we follow Christ. Galatians 5 lays it out for us. Our fruit should reflect the heart of God. 

Access is the Fruit of Submission

Gen 2:18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

Proverbs 31:23 Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.

Eve was given access to God, because of Adam's need of her. We can assume that God would have made woman eventually and for other reasons but the Bible says that God made Eve because He say that it was not good that Adam should be alone. When we submit to our husbands we are submitting to the order God has put in place. 

I always found it interesting that Proverbs states, "Her husband is known in the gates" in between a verse that talks about what she wears and what she sells. She had a reputation. She submitted to her husband's position by honoring him in how she presented herself and even in how she conducted business. 

Hearing the Voice of God

Eph 5:22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

When we submit ourselves to our husbands we are obeying the voice of God. It is His word that tells us to submit to our husbands as unto the Lord. What does that look like? We are constantly being perfected by the love of God. We seek to understand His will, we look for opportunities to praise Him, to move and be moved by Him. We respectfully make our request known to Him, yet He knows our hearts deepest desires and His will is that we submit to our husbands as unto Him. I am not saying treat your husband like a god but I am saying we must look for ways to honor them, with the intent of honoring the God who made them.

Submission is a hard word but I am convinced that submitting to God is the absolute best things I could do.

What are some benefits of submission in your opinion?