The Bible tells a wife to submit to her husband in 1 Peter 3. Coming from a generation that regularly celebrates Girl Power (thank you, Spice Girls) this is a hard bit of scripture to swallow.
I have questioned many Christian women about this, why on earth would a woman submit to a man. Why did God give us the crappy end of the marriage deal?
The wisest answer I ever received was from a high school English teacher. She reminded me about what else God says about marriage:
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her (Ephesians 5:25)
“Whenever I meet a man who loves me like Christ,” she answered, “I’ll have no problem submitting to him.”
I can work with that answer.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I feel the same way. 15 years into marriage I have to say that I get the give and take of what God wants us to provide and to take from marriage. His plan works quite well if we let it!
It really does! Thanks for the comment, Ashley.
I have a tough time with this scripture. I’m not a Christian, but was raised one and have heard your English teacher lady’s argument before. Regardless, I don’t like it.
I will say this, however: LOVE is SUBMISSION. What bothers me about this passage is the wording. It implies that a man must love, and a woman must obey. But when we love like we say we do, enough to make promises of a lifetime together-we BOTH are promising to submit to each other, to make compromises, to aid in the happiness of our spouse. I promise to do things that he wants to sometimes even though it’s not my “thing”, and to enjoy it because he’s my husband and I want him to be happy.. And he promises the same. We submit our lives to each other, equally.