Devotions
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Submission
Ephesians 5:21 And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. I am a huge fan of martial arts. Especially MMA and JiuJitsu. If you follow any of these sports, you will hear about submissions a lot. A submission is one of the few ways you can get a win in the sport. You manipulate your opponent's body to get them into a position where they have to submit or risk getting injured. In that moment the person submitting is acknowledging the person has gotten the upper hand and is in that moment better than them. In our culture we often see submission as a negative. We think of ourselves as less than and weak if we submit. However, this is not what scripture teaches us about submission. In this passage Paul is challenging us to submit to each other. So what does Paul mean by this? He is not telling us to think less of ourselves, rather he is giving us an opportunity to grow in Christ. Ephesians 5:21 follows a section about how we are to live in the light by being filled with the Holy Spirit. We live this out by submitting to one another, which really means putting others first and seeing everyone as worthy of our time. Jesus modeled submission in his own life by submitting to God’s will and dying on a cross for our sins. Because of this He was exalted above every other name. (Philippians 2:1-11 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.) This is how we need to think about submission. When we do we begin to transform into the people who God created us to be. Pastor Blake
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AuthorNotes from the Staff @The Woods Archives
March 2023
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