How to be the light to the world everyday

‘Understanding Christian Submission

Operation Desert Storm

Imagine going into war: you want to look, strong, menacing, unstoppable, you are prepared to fight and win. Latest battle tanks, aircraft and artillery

Humvees were repainted to color of surrounding sand. However, they acquired a distinctLy pinkish cast. They called this color desert pink!

Became a source of humor - someone made a bumper sticker “ask me about Mary Kay”

Social scientist scients say that one of the most prominent drives in the human psyche is desire to be significant. Most people want attention and to be recognize. Our society does not see the attitude of submission and meekness qualities to be honored, on the contrary, our society honors and rewards those who are outrageous, outspoken and flamboyant! The more outrageous you are, the more followers you have on social media. Proverbs 25:27 “It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it glorious to seek one’s own glory.”

Perhaps this is one of the greatest struggles for mankind, for us, to deny our will, wants and desires - first to God then to our fellow man. James 4:7–8 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

Key Verse: Ephesians 5:1–2 “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

Understanding Submission:

Definition: Submission: to put under. It is not weakness, but a voluntary act of surrendering one's will to another. It involves humility, acknowledging God's authority, and recognizing the order He has and established.

Does submissive mean weakness? Every person is either more naturally dominant or submissive. There are also the rare people who naturally can easily fall into both roles. However, being sub..: missive in a relationship doesn't mean you're weak. It doesn't make you a pushover, subjugated, or taken advantage of.

Submission Is Spiritual & Trusts

Unless you're filled with the Spirit of God, it makes zero sense to submit to another person. Why would you ever do that? In Ephesians 5:21, when Paul says, "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ," the word submit in Greek isn't a command. The command is back in verse 18: "Be filled with the Spirit." Submitting is an expression of that. So the text should read, "Be filled with the Holy Spirit … submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ."

A. Surrendering our Will to God:

Jesus as the ultimate example Matthew 26:39 “And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.””

Trusting God's wisdom and sovereignty Proverbs 3:5–6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

B. Biblical Basis:

Ephesians 5:21: "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ."

James 4:7: "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

C. Obedience as an Act of Love:

John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” There is a direct correlation between our love for God and obedience to Him in our relationship with john

2 John 6 “And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.”

Matthew 7:21–23 ““Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

Colossians 3:23: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters."Representing Christ through our attitudes and actions in the secular realm.

D. Receive the gift of Jesus Christ:

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Luke 14:33 “So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”

Luke 9:23–25 “And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?”

Galatians 5:24–25 “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”

Ephesians 4:1 “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,”

Have you been the light that God has called you to as being a Christian?

Are you walking in a manner that pleases God or denies who Jesus Christ is?