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\xa0In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:\xa0Who, being in very nature\xa0God, did not consider equality with God\xa0something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature\xa0of a servant,\xa0being made in human likeness.\xa0 And being found in appearance as a man,\xa0he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death\u2014even death on a cross! Therefore, God exalted him\xa0to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,\xa0to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-12)

Submission is not a popular topic these days.\xa0 It smells of weakness, dependence on another and relinquishing of our own sense of power and control. \xa0To a society bent on the importance of titles, roles and independence, those who submit to another are seen to have lost the fight, showed that they are not strong enough and are left looking like a dog that has just been scolded with its head down and tail between its legs.\xa0 Some biblical passages are often wrongly interpreted in the same way. \xa0In true biblical submission however, giving up control, and putting our dependence on God is a sign of strength and that the Holy Spirit is working in our lives. Godly submission is rooted in God\u2019s good and loving intentions for each one of us.\xa0 This passage from Philippians is a wonderful picture of what biblical submission looks like.

Biblical submission begins with the Trinity.\xa0 The Father, Son and Holy Spirit all mutually honor and yield to one another.\xa0 Christ, in submission to the Father didn\u2019t make Himself less than the Father, but rather His submission was a way for Him to give glory to the Father.\xa0 God doesn\u2019t force us to submit \u2013 that is called oppression.\xa0 Submission is rather a willingness for the grace and love of God and His ways to shape our choices, relationships, and work.\xa0 \xa0\u201cHe must become greater; I must become less.\u201d (John 3:30).\xa0 As I talked Monday about confession, submission is there too.\xa0 In order to open ourselves to confession before God and others, we need to be willing to submit ourselves to the transforming work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.\xa0 The Spirit that calls us into holy and right living. \xa0I suppose that\u2019s one reason why confession is often so difficult to do.

Scripture tells us to \u201csubmit to one another\xa0out of reverence for Christ\u201d (Eph 5:21).\xa0 Our relationships are to be a reflection of the relationship in the Trinity because we are made in His image.\xa0 Every person in the body of Christ contributes.\xa0 Every person serves.\xa0 Every person has an important part to play that no one else can.\xa0 Submission may mean giving or may mean receiving.\xa0 It may mean taking a back seat, or it may mean standing in the spotlight.\xa0 It may mean staying and it may mean going.\xa0 Submission in every case is about loving others, loving God and giving of ourselves.\xa0 It is about humbling ourselves before others and before God not as an act of weakness of mind or character, but as an act of obedience to the ways and the will of God in our lives.

\u201cFor by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.\u201d (Romans 12:3-5)

Be devoted to one another in love.\xa0Honor one another above yourselves. (Romans 12:10)

\u201cPut on then, as\xa0God's chosen ones, holy and beloved,\xa0compassionate hearts,\xa0kindness,\xa0humility, meekness, and patience,\xa0And above all these put on\xa0love, which\xa0binds everything together in\xa0perfect harmony.\u201d (Colossians 3:12,14)

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.\xa0Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,\xa04\xa0not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. (Philippians 2:3-4)

God has a plan, and it is always right.\xa0 He knows the best way for His people to live.\xa0 Submission is trusting that God\u2019s instructions concerning how we are to live are good for us.\xa0 He tells us to forgive, to serve, to love even those we deem least \u201clovable.\u201d\xa0 These instructions were not given with an iron fist, but to set us free to be who we were meant to be in Christ.