Submit to One Another

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

Think about the far-reaching implications of that one statement. Imagine growing up in a family that embraced that one guideline. How many rules would we need if everybody just did that? Can you think of a marriage conflict that couldn’t be resolved if both parties decided to submit to each other freely out of reverence for Christ? This was Paul’s way of saying: “Put others first, just as Christ put you first.”

I call this the principle of mutual submission. I’m convinced this is the most powerful, transformational, relational dynamic on the planet. In a relationship characterized by mutual submission, both parties choose to submit themselves to the other. Mutual submission doesn’t work unless it’s mutual. It only works when both parties work it. But, like Jesus, Paul didn’t stop there.

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

New covenant participants are to submit to one another in light of what Christ has done for them. Paul doesn’t instruct believers to submit to one another out of reverence for one another. Let’s face it—most “one anothers” don’t deserve to be submitted to. Paul takes us back to the dynamic Jesus introduced in the upper room. The phrase “out of reverence for Christ” suggests we are to submit to one another out of reverence for the fact that Christ submitted himself to each of us on the cross to pay our sin debt. His sacrifice is to serve as the inspiration and standard for our submission to one another. It’s that just as thing again.

“Submit to one another” wasn’t Paul’s only one-another. He left the church with some other one-anothers. According to Paul, the primary duty of Jesus followers is to one-another one another. Here’s his list:

Submit to one another.

Forgive one another.

Encourage one another.

Restore one another.

Accept one another.

Care for one another.

Bear with one another.

Carry one another’s burdens.

If we were to ask Paul what faith expressing itself through love looks like, he might rattle off this list. This is the short list of what God through Christ has done for each of us. 

So, what if we just did that?

What if we one-anothered one another better?

Source: Andy Stanley Irresistible