So how does Paul jump from giving thanks for everything right over to submitting to one another as he discusses how we are to live as Spirit-filled Christians? It seems he sees it fitting very comfortably as the third in the list of measures of our reflection of the Holy Spirit in our lives...singing, thanksgiving and now submission.
As Robert J. Morgan puts it, each attitude that Paul identifies seem to "bore more deeply into our personalities. It's relatively easy to burst into song, more difficult to be thankful on rough days, and harder still to remain humble in our relationships."
So if submission to others is one of the gauges of our willingness to allow the Holy Spirit to rule in our lives, how are we doing? And what do we look at in our lives to even know how we're doing on this measure? Does "submitting to one another" mean that we allow anyone and everyone to dominate us and order us around without any boundaries? When do we get to say no?
What's a Spirit-filled Christian to do??
Well, in a perfect world (that would be where we're heading!), the verse would be heeded by all, so each of us would be submitting to "one another", no one would be taken advantage of and have to be the "submittee" all the time. I think Paul is saying that when we are following the lead of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we will continuously be ready to humble ourselves into a place of servanthood for anyone who needs our help, to do whatever is needed without thought as to whether or not the task at hand is too lowly for us. It is not establishing ourselves in a permanent place of being a doormat, for there are times when someone else will be submitting themselves to us, to do for us something that the Holy Spirit is nudging them to do.
To me, the major point is to never establish ourselves as too high, too good, too anything that would disable us from reducing ourselves to a point low enough to serve anyone, any where. For I believe anyone, any where, can be put in our lives just so that we can show them that we need no other regard than the regard of our Father; and knowing that He regards our ability to voluntarily take on the role of a servant as one of a Christian's most noble of characteristics, makes us long to do just that.
Jesus is our most wonderful example of absolute servanthood. He submitted Himself to His disciples when He lovingly washed their feet...He submitted Himself to humanity when He lovingly took all of their sins, marching to Calvary with not only the load of the cross, but with the load of mankind's sinfulness bearing on Him.
If pride is the soil of sinfulness, humility is the heart of holiness. It's the basic bread-and-butter attitude of: ' Jesus first, others second, and I'll take the leftovers. I'm sent to serve.'" - Robert J. Morgan
As Robert J. Morgan puts it, each attitude that Paul identifies seem to "bore more deeply into our personalities. It's relatively easy to burst into song, more difficult to be thankful on rough days, and harder still to remain humble in our relationships."
So if submission to others is one of the gauges of our willingness to allow the Holy Spirit to rule in our lives, how are we doing? And what do we look at in our lives to even know how we're doing on this measure? Does "submitting to one another" mean that we allow anyone and everyone to dominate us and order us around without any boundaries? When do we get to say no?
What's a Spirit-filled Christian to do??
Well, in a perfect world (that would be where we're heading!), the verse would be heeded by all, so each of us would be submitting to "one another", no one would be taken advantage of and have to be the "submittee" all the time. I think Paul is saying that when we are following the lead of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we will continuously be ready to humble ourselves into a place of servanthood for anyone who needs our help, to do whatever is needed without thought as to whether or not the task at hand is too lowly for us. It is not establishing ourselves in a permanent place of being a doormat, for there are times when someone else will be submitting themselves to us, to do for us something that the Holy Spirit is nudging them to do.
To me, the major point is to never establish ourselves as too high, too good, too anything that would disable us from reducing ourselves to a point low enough to serve anyone, any where. For I believe anyone, any where, can be put in our lives just so that we can show them that we need no other regard than the regard of our Father; and knowing that He regards our ability to voluntarily take on the role of a servant as one of a Christian's most noble of characteristics, makes us long to do just that.
Jesus is our most wonderful example of absolute servanthood. He submitted Himself to His disciples when He lovingly washed their feet...He submitted Himself to humanity when He lovingly took all of their sins, marching to Calvary with not only the load of the cross, but with the load of mankind's sinfulness bearing on Him.
If pride is the soil of sinfulness, humility is the heart of holiness. It's the basic bread-and-butter attitude of: ' Jesus first, others second, and I'll take the leftovers. I'm sent to serve.'" - Robert J. Morgan
No comments:
Post a Comment